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Unauditable, The Village of Covington

Auditor of State Mary Taylor, CPA
Covington Records “Unauditable’
Auditor Seeks Financial Information
Jim Otte, Reporter
*Posted: 4:19 pm EDT March 12, 2009Updated: 9:54 pm EDT March 12, 2009
COVINGTON, Ohio -- Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor declared the village of Covington’s financial records “unauditable” Thursday.
The designation means that records are missing, incomplete or inaccurate.
In a written statement, Taylor reminded village authorities that they are required to maintain financial records in accordance with state standards.
“The failure to do so increases the potential of misspending or theft of public funds,” Taylor said.
Taylor notified the village that her office was unable to collect a complete listing of all financial transactions and information on monthly bank reconciliations from Feb. 2007 through Dec. 2007.
Village authorities could not be reached for comment.

*April 21, 2009, Village of Covington, “Unauditable” status
COVINGTON, Ohio -- Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor has recorded no change in status since the March 12, 2009 “unauditable” announcement.
Since 2006 the checks and bank ledger have not been balanced. There are no entries to show where money has been spent or for what. “The failure to do so increases the potential of misspending or theft of public funds,” Taylor said. The Village of Covington has six months after the 2008 year end to provide reconciled and auditable information for the years of 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Observations:
• Sooner or later the Village of Covington is going to have to hire an accounting firm to make the Village books auditable. This is going to cost the Village and its citizens a lot of money and the longer this is delayed the more it will cost us.
• As long as the Village is “Unauditable”, it will not be eligible for Grant money needed to make improvements, maintain the village and provide growth.
• Our Mayor and Council will continue to be scrutinized for allowing this condition to continue. This will result in reduced political participation and perhaps empty seats within our village government.
• Businesses will not locate in an area that is financially unstable.
• People will not invest in property and housing in a village that is fiscally irresponsible.
• Current residents will start to leave for other areas that can offer updated services and new growth opportunities.

Question?
- Does the Village of Covington plan to answer the Auditor of State, Mary Taylor, with compliance to State Laws?
- What is your opinion?

Re: Unauditable, The Village of Covington

I sure hope the missing records can be located and Covington's status returned to "auditable".

Sounds like the village might benefit from some software to help manage the books, something that can be stored electronically, then saved on backup discs.

Re: Unauditable, The Village of Covington

Are you kidding me? Why haven't I read anything about this in the council minutes? This is unacceptable! Something needs to be done about this and I will be following the actions of the Council and the Mayor on this.

Re: Unauditable, The Village of Covington

Looking at the Council meeting minutes there are several things obvious.
- Our councilmen/women are not going to question the Unauditable status of our Village accounting.
- There is not enough village concern to pressure the council to do anything.
- Covington is running up an inevitable tab to have our books brought up to date and made legal.
- We will have our taxes raised to pay for the council’s failure.
It is going to be interesting to see what happens at the end of June when our six months runs out.

Appalled

Re: Unauditable, The Village of Covington

It's one thing to not turn in completed records and a whole other thing to be so irresponsible in not answering to the state auditor in a timely fashion. I think someone needs to notify the local papers on this breaking news. Maybe only then will our Covington officials finally decide to take some responsible action.

Re: Unauditable, Piqua Daily Call

Piqua Daily Call
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Covington records ready for auditor
Bank documents have been gathered - by TOM MILLHOUSE News Editor tmillhouse@dailycal.com

COVINGTON – Three months after State Auditor Mary Taylor declared the Village of Covington “unauditable” for years 2006 and 2007, the village fiscal officer reported Friday evening that she has compiled all the records sought by the state.
The “unauditable” designation means that records and documents needed to complete a financial audit are “missing, incomplete or inaccurate.” Taylor also noted in March that village officials were notified February 27 that her office was unable to obtain monthly bank reconciliations for February 2007 through December 2007 or a computer listing of all financial transactions.
Covington Fiscal Officer Kay McKinney said Friday “We’ve had everything completed for a week.” She said she wasn’t sure of the process the auditor’s office wanted to use to obtain the completed records. “I’ll be glad to do whatever they want”.
McKinney said earlier this year that she was unable to find bank records for the period specified by auditors. She said the village offices were undergoing renovations during a portion of the period involved and there also were some family illnesses. “I just wasn’t able to find them,” she said of the missing records.
Steve Faulkner, Deputy press secretary with the State Auditor’s Office, said earlier Friday that it was his office’s understanding that the village would be providing the records by Friday, but they had not yet received the records they needed to complete the Covington audit.
“Our office wants to reach out to help villages so that the residents know that their officials are being held accountable,” Faulkner said.

Re: Unauditable, The Village of Covington

OK, Now the word is out that the State Auditor will have an Audit team in the Covington Government Center to complete the Audit they started several years ago. I hope the Village finally passes.