Columbus – A former fair board treasurer is on the hook for a $12,751 shortage of ticket revenue and change funds from the 2015 Washington County Fair. 

The discrepancies came to light during a financial audit of the Washington County Agricultural Society, also known as the fair board, released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost. 

Admission records from the county fair showed the society collected a total of $128,390 in ticket revenue. Of that amount, former Treasurer Richard Henthorn spent $19,400 in cash on behalf of the society, contrary to the best practice of using checks issued in the entity’s name. 

“Cash payments are a symptom of sloppy government bookkeeping,” Auditor Yost said. “The agricultural society needs to remedy this accounting headache with a payment method that leaves a detailed record of every expense.”

Henthorn supplied $3,224 of the cash to concession stands and vending machines to provide change during transactions, but he was unable to offer any supporting documentation to show that he redeposited the funds after the fair ended.  

The net revenue after accounting for all of the cash spending should have totaled $108,990, but only $99,463 – a difference of $9,527 – was recorded in the society’s books. Henthorn again failed to present evidence to explain the shortage.

Auditors issued a $12,751 finding for recovery against Henthorn and recommended the society establish internal controls over the processing and reporting of revenue. 

The report also notes that a lack of pre-numbered tickets  made it impossible for auditors to verify the reported ticket revenue from a Fourth of July event. Likewise, auditors could not confirm the accuracy of collections from a concert due incomplete sales activity records.

A full copy of this report is available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

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Beth Gianforcaro
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