Columbus - The Village of Arlington Heights’ Mayor’s Court was required to pay the treasurer of state $40,654 in collected fines, according to the 2008-09 audit released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost.  An additional special audit is currently underway at the request of the mayor.
 
“The Village of Arlington Heights must ensure the money goes where it’s supposed to go,” Auditor Yost said.  “We will look to the special audit to answer any lingering questions and make certain the village is back on the right track.”
 
During the years of 2008 and 2009, the bank reconciliations for the mayor’s court were not completed in a timely manner and maintained.  Lack of bank reconciliations led to incomplete records and account book balances that did not match the unreconciled bank balances.  A material weakness finding was issued to the village for this matter.
 
According to audit findings, the village collected $40,654 in fines from the mayor’s court, but did not distribute those funds to the state treasurer’s office, as required by the Ohio Revised Code.  The audit found that $5,463 should have been sent to the state’s reparation fund (Victims of Crime), $22,950 to the state’s Indigent Defense Support Fund, $11,991 to the Drug Law Enforcement Fund/Justice Program Services Fund (split by the state) and $250 to the state’s Child Highway Safety Fund.  At the time of the audit release, the finding for recovery had been paid to the state treasurer’s office.
 
The Village of Arlington Heights, population 745 (2010 census), received $795,000 in general fund revenue in 2009.
 
A full copy of this audit is available online.

The Auditor of State is one of five independently elected offices under the Ohio Constitution. Auditor Yost’s office is responsible for auditing over 5,600 state and local government agencies. Staff also works in partnership with state and local governments to deal effectively with financial, accounting and budgetary issues.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
(614) 728-7198