News

Fairfield County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released the audits of Greenfield Township for calendar years 2006 and 2007.  The audits revealed more than $21,000 in findings for recovery, a  determination that public monies were illegally expended, that must be repaid by township fire department employees. 

“The citizens of Ohio deserve to know that their tax dollars are spent legally and appropriately,” said Taylor.  “It is important that township officials use this audit as a tool to reduce errors and make improvements in their financial record keeping.”

The audits find that the $21,423.07 in findings for recovery were issued against several township fire department employees for overpaid wages.  However, one employee is responsible for $15,617.22 of the total.  Taylor is referring the issue to the Ohio Attorney General for review.

The audit also indentified record keeping errors resulting in 12 audit adjustments and reclassifications to the fire district’s 2007 and 2006 financial statements.

Additionally, auditors noted that the township:

• Did not allocate interest earnings correctly among funds
• Incorrectly calculated compensatory time
• Failed to monitor payroll reports and compare them to internal documents

A copy of the full audit is available online at www.auditor.state.oh.us.

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The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office is one of the largest accounting offices in the nation.  The office strives to ensure that all public funds are spent legally and appropriately and works aggressively to root out fraud, waste and abuse in public spending.  Taylor encourages anyone suspecting fraud or misspending of public dollars to contact her office toll free at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).  Since taking office in January 2007, Taylor has identified more than $19.3 million in public funds that were spent illegally and must be repaid.