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Taylor Releases Sandusky County Ag Society Audit

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Sandusky County -

State Auditor Mary Taylor released the 2005-06 audit for the Sandusky County Agricultural Society.  The audit revealed that the society did not maintain proper records regarding grandstand admission and therefore could not properly account for public money collected at the event.  The final audit opinion reflects the fact that they did not maintain proper accounting records. 

“By not properly documenting financial information, you are putting the public’s money at risk,” said Taylor.  “The citizens of Ohio deserve to know how their money is collected and spent, and when that cannot be determined, problems may arise.”

Other significant findings in the audit report include:

• Financial records were not compared to bank records on a regular basis.

• Financial records were not properly stored and maintained.

The Agricultural Society acknowledged the audit findings and will be implementing proper policies and procedures to address the issues.

The Sandusky County Ag Society was declared “unauditable”, or unable to provide the necessary documents to complete an audit, on March 27, 2007.  Since the financial information is being released today, they will be removed from the “unauditable” list.  The Auditor’s Office Web site includes a list of other Ohio government entities that have been declared “unauditable”.

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 full copy of the audit is available online at www.auditor.state.oh.us.