header

Statement from Auditor of State Mary Taylor

Auditor of State Mary Taylor issued the following statement regarding the state’s projected budget shortfall:

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

-

“The announcement today by Governor Strickland concerning the continued deterioration of the financial condition of the state of Ohio is troubling.  Earlier this year, the administration chose to take action to solve the most optimistic of three budget scenarios outlined by OBM.  And while that action did include some budget reductions, it also included a number of questionable fiscal management proposals such as Keno, delaying program expenditures from one fiscal year to the next and short term cash management actions.

 

Governor Strickland’s plan is not making real progress toward putting Ohio’s fiscal house in order and unfortunately, by continuing to delay structural reform to the state budget, we have lost valuable time which would have been better spent on advancing serious budget balancing solutions.

 

In an effort to identify meaningful budget savings, I am delivering a letter to Governor Strickland today recommending the use of our Performance Audit Section to conduct a series of state agency performance audits to identify areas where significant budget reductions and operational efficiencies could help cut costs in state government.”