Columbus – During a visit to the city today, Auditor of State Dave Yost released Campbell (Mahoning County) from fiscal emergency, a status it has held since 2004.

“A child born the year Campbell was placed in fiscal emergency would be in the third grade today,” Auditor Yost said.  “This shows how long it can take to dig your way out – congratulations to the city for making the tough choices to get here.”

The City of Campbell was placed in fiscal emergency on June 10, 2004 due to aggregate deficits in seven funds totaling $598,128.

The city used a combination of budget cuts and new sources of revenue to reduce their deficits:

• City council waived its health insurance coverage, saving $34,000 annually; 
• Fleet and fire insurance was moved to a consortium, saving $25,000 annually; 
• Instituted a garbage fee and water meter charge to increase revenue by $100,000 annually; and
• Instituted delinquent income tax payment programs, generating $66,000 and $51,000 in 2012.

To be released from fiscal emergency, the City of Campbell met the following criteria:

• Adopted and implemented an effective financial accounting and reporting system;
• Corrected or eliminated all of the fiscal emergency conditions and no new conditions have occurred, and it appears that, based on its five-year forecast, the City of Campbell will remain out of fiscal emergency during the forecast period;
• Met the major objectives of the financial recovery plan; and
• Prepared a five-year forecast in accordance with standards issued by the Auditor of State, and the opinion expressed by the Auditor of State is “nonadverse.”

A full copy of this fiscal emergency termination may be accessed 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 5,700 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.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
614-644-1111