COLUMBUS — Findings for recovery against 60 people totaling more than $66,000 were issued Tuesday against employees and officials of Franklin Township in Franklin County, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

The findings were among 108 issues identified in a review of the township’s finances from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2019. Auditors noted payroll deficiencies; inconsistencies in vacation, holiday, compensatory time, and sick leave practices; and numerous other fiscal failures.

“This report is the worst accounting performance I have seen in all of my time in the Auditor of State’s Office,” said Chief Deputy Auditor Robert Hinkle, who is retiring after more than 40 years of service. “It’s a case study in fiscal mismanagement that defies explanation.”

The full report is available online at ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx.

The findings for recovery, primarily for payroll errors and failures to follow township policies and collective bargaining agreements, were against 10 different administrators, 35 members of the township fire department, six members of the road department, and nine members of the police force.

Other issues identified in the report included:

• Fiscal officers failing to perform monthly cash reconciliations for the duration of the audit period. The Fiscal Office also did not allow the township trustees to access budgetary reports or monitor activity. On multiple occasions, expenditures exceeded appropriations.
• The township did not properly record all receipts and expenditures. Errors were made in recording property tax transactions.
• There was no approval in the minutes for 2017, 2018 or 2019 appropriations or amendments. The township’s approved appropriations exceeded the amount certified as available by the budget commission in multiple instances in each of the three years covered.
• Employees, at times, were not required to track or document their working hours and other costs, including fuel or equipment maintenance. Additionally, the township had no formal procedures in place regarding the approval or tracking of Family and Medical Leave Act leave and inconsistent policies in place for handling other paid time off.
• The township collected fees in the form of cash or checks for building permits, impound cars, false alarms, etc., but had no official policy concerning deposits or safeguarding of those funds. The township also did not properly track payments for building permits, leaving some with outstanding balances and some that received more fees than were due.

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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 5,900 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.

Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov