BELMORE — Incomplete financial records have left the Putnam County village of Belmore “unauditable,” according to the Ohio Auditor’s Office.
“Poorly kept records create a lack of accountability,” Auditor Dave Yost said in a statement. “The Village of Belmore must bring its records back to an auditable condition to complete the audit.”
Public entities are subject to regular audits from the state, and in its most recent audit, Belmore’s financial records were found to have several deficiencies.
“Belmore did not file financial statements for 2014 and 2015,” according to Ben Marrison, communications director for the state Auditor’s Office. “They didn’t provide bank statements or bank reconciliations, and they also didn’t use the online accounting system that they agreed to use.”
In a letter sent to the village Tuesday, the Auditor’s Office outlined how no financial records were uploaded to the Uniform Accounting Network since March 2014, and the February 2014 bank reconciliation showed unidentified receipts of $2,495 and unidentified disbursements of $32.
Belmore Mayor Walter Harper blamed the discrepancy on technological issues, with village officials unable to log into the UAN to submit the information.
“We’re waiting on them to come down and unlock the computers so we can straighten this out,” he said. “As soon as they come around, we’ll get on it and see where we’re at.”
Marrison said that each unauditable case can have a different cause, but all of these prevent the office from fulfilling its mandate.
“The records provided don’t allow for our auditors to do their job in a comprehensive fashion,” he said.
Part of the difficulty in getting this resolved, Harper said, is working around the schedules of village officials. With a population of 143 as of 2010, Belmore does not have full-time staff.
“Our secretary works a full-time job, so she has to get them up here at some time when she’s available and they’re available,” he said.
Any entity found to be unauditable must revise its financial records and provide complete information within 90 days of the letter or risk legal action, including subpoenas or possibly a lawsuit. Harper is hopeful that this issue will be resolved quickly.
“The information was just not going where it was supposed to, so hopefully we can get that figured out,” he said.
