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Taylor Declares Fiscal Emergency Status for Village of Portage

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Wood County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor today announced a fiscal emergency in the village of Portage.  The determination was made as a result of a fiscal analysis conducted by the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services section.  Village of Portage Mayor W. Mark Wolford requested the fiscal analysis.

“Village of Portage officials face tough financial decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” Taylor said. “My office will continue to work with the village to identify potential cost savings to help prevent future deficits.”

A fiscal emergency was declared because the analysis revealed that the village had deficit fund balances of $118,828 and $135,763 as of December 31, 2008 and January 31, 2009 respectively.


When a village is placed in fiscal emergency, a commission is appointed by the state within 45 days to help the village regain financial stability.  The commission is responsible for approving a plan that details solutions for eliminating the fiscal emergency conditions.  The plan should also balance the budget and present strategies to avoid future deficits. 


The plan must be approved by the village and submitted to the commission within 120 days of the commission’s first meeting.


A copy of the full fiscal analysis 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.