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Taylor Releases Village of South Zanesville Audit

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Muskingum County -

State Auditor Mary Taylor released the audit of the Village of South Zanesville today. The audit found lapses in the collection of income taxes and other outstanding fines causing the village to potentially lose revenue. The village was also charged penalties and interest for missing deadlines for the payment of federal taxes and payments to other vendors.

“Tax collection carelessness and payment delays to outside sources have the potential to jeopardize the village’s financial stability,” Taylor said. “Council members should implement the recommendations presented in the audit to improve the operation of village affairs and increase accountability to village residents.”

The audit reveals that:

  • Village officials were not monitoring delinquent income tax accounts and had no policy in place for the collection of outstanding taxes.
  • The village did not ensure that residents required to pay income taxes were indeed paying them.
  • The village made no attempts to collect outstanding fines in the Mayor’s Court.

Taylor says the lack of oversight could cause the village to lose significant revenue and recommends the implementation of detailed policies and procedures to collect taxes and fines owed to the village.

The audit also found that federal taxes were paid late causing the village to incur penalties and fees in the amount of $613.78. Additionally, the village was fined for missing deadlines for payments to two vendors contracted to do work for the village.

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_South_Zanesville_05_06-Muskingum.pdf.