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Taylor Releases Village of Lakemore Audit

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Summit County -

State Auditor Mary Taylor released the 2003 – 2004 biennial audit of the Village of Lakemore today.  The village was previously declared unauditable, or unable to be audited, due to missing, incomplete and inaccurate financial statements.  The State Auditor’s Local Government Services division worked extensively with the village to reconstruct financial statements so that a complete audit could be performed.

“If our office can’t audit the financial statements of a local government, then we cannot provide assurance to local taxpayers that their money is being spent legally and appropriately,” Taylor said. “It is imperative that the Village of Lakemore officials consider implementing the recommendations made in the audit report to improve accountability in their management of public funds and to reduce the potential for fraud or theft of taxpayer dollars.”

Auditors also noted the following:

  • Village bank accounts were not balanced for the entire two-year audit period
  • Hundreds of thousands of dollars in income tax revenue was posted to incorrect accounts or were posted multiple times
  • Employee paychecks lacked supporting timesheets to justify accurate pay
  • Village officials failed to pass an annual budget for 2003 and 2004
  • Annual tax forms were not filed for contractors providing services to the village

In a continuing effort to improve their financial reporting and payroll practices, the village contracted with the State Auditor’s Office in 2006 to gain access to the Uniform Accounting Network (UAN). The network is a financial management computer system that allows public officials to easily apply accounting standards to their financial record keeping. The UAN is one of many services the State Auditor’s Office offers to local government officials to help them with timely accurate financial reporting.

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).

A copy of the full audit is available online at http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/AuditSearch/Reports/2007/Village_of_Lakemore_04_03-Summit.pdf.