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Taylor Releases Village of Woodstock Audit

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Champaign County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor released the audits of the village of Woodstock for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 today. The audits reveal that the village continues to have fund deficits since its 2006 fiscal emergency declaration. For 2005, cash ledgers and other journals required complete reconstruction.

“Anytime financial records are missing or incomplete, there is the potential for mistakes and misspending,” Taylor said. “Ohioans must hold public officials to a higher standard to ensure that public money is spent legally and appropriately.”

The audit of fiscal year 2005 reports that the village failed to maintain documentation showing how much money was received and spent. As a result, the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services (LGS) section was contracted to reconstruct the village’s financial records.

In 2006, the village mayor requested a fiscal analysis from the Auditor of State’s office. That analysis revealed negative cash balances in three of the village’s operating funds resulting in a fiscal emergency declaration.

The audit explains that the village has adopted a financial recovery plan and expects to have all funds out of deficit by 2009.

The Auditor of State’s Local Government Services section serves as a consulting and fiscal advisory group to all governmental agencies and subdivisions when needed. The section issues publications, accounting manuals and advisory bulletins to assist local governments in performing their duties.

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).

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