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Editorial: A state record that taxpayers don't want
A record has been set in Ohio, but nobody’s bragging about it.
The state currently has 20 local governments on its fiscal emergency list, including two villages from this region — Alger and Willshire.
To make this dubious list a local governments has to have spent one-sixth more money than it is bringing into its general fund. At that point, a seven-member public commission is created to oversee the entity’s financial operations and develop a plan for recovery.
It would be easy to blame the bad economy for this and most people would buy into it. After all, times are tough and money problems are everywhere. The finger also could be pointed at dishonest public employees, and in some cases, that would be true.
But in most situations, the state auditor’s office will tell you it is simply incompetence. That’s how Paul Marshall summed up the situation when talking with The Columbus Dispatch. “In general, you have poor or nonexistent leadership and bad staff work on top of it,” said Marshall, who oversees the state commissions that are working with the 20 local governments.
While we see no reason to doubt Marshall, his words nonetheless are pretty harsh.
Most of the entities under financial emergency are small villages where it can be hard to find someone willing to handle the books, let alone having the proper skill set. Ten of the current 20 have populations less than 1,000, and seven of those have 500 or fewer people living in their villages. We are talking about places that have names like Sparta (population 191), West Elkton (194) and Midland (265). Our guess is that such villages are not highly populated by accountants.
It also should be pointed out that 18 of the 20 special audits were done at the request of the local government, who knew they had problems and sought help.
It is the thieves that are the most bothersome, and we applaud those insiders who are brave enough to report suspicious activity at the work place. Such calls have resulted in criminal cases being built against treasurers, clerks and finance directors. Typically, it is a situation where someone handling cash is stealing money to pay for such addictions as gambling, sex or drugs. One of the most severe cases that Ohio is currently examining involves Wellston, a village of 6,000 in south central Ohio. In February, a state audit found money missing, city officials and employees with delinquent water bills, and a supervisor shopping for supplies for his private contracting business on at least 215 occasions while on city time.
The auditor’s office is asking that people report suspicious activity to the fraud tip line at 1-866-FRAUDOH (372-8364). It’s one way that taxpayers can help protect each other.
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