News

Jefferson County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released the Edison Local School District from fiscal watch. The district was placed in fiscal watch more than two years ago for failing to submit an acceptable plan to eliminate potential deficits for fiscal years 2007 and 2008.

Since then, members of the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services section provided the district with guidance and technical assistance.

The school district was placed in fiscal caution on November 29, 2006 due to its deteriorating financial condition and anticipated deficits for 2007 and 2008. On February 8, 2007, the Auditor of State declared the district in fiscal watch since school officials failed to submit an acceptable written proposal, as required by Ohio law, for correcting the conditions that led to the declaration.  The school district anticipated deficits of $1,893,000 and $2,851,000 for fiscal years 2007 and 2008, respectively.

The district successfully eliminated the circumstances that placed them in fiscal watch and school officials no longer project future deficits through fiscal year 2011.

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

A copy of the complete 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 866-FRAUD-OH (866-372-8364). Since taking office, Taylor has identified more than $18.5 million in public funds that were handled improperly, spent illegally or stolen and must be repaid.