Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Auditor’s Office Doesn’t Know When Late Reports Will Be Released

Posted by Michael Earl Patton

Photo courtesy of here.

The Hamilton County Auditor’s office has not released the annual county financial reports for the years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  When I asked in person Tuesday to see the reports I was told that they did not know when they would be available.  The explanation given was that the auditor, Mr. Rhodes, does not release any unaudited financial reports and since there are unresolved issues for 2004, 2005, and 2006, these reports are not available to the public.  Since the State Auditor is working on the 2007 report, that report is also not available.

Although Mr. Rhodes is the county auditor, the audit that concerns his office is the one performed by the state auditor.  Until both he and the state auditor agree on the issues, the public will not be allowed to see his report on the county’s financial condition.

Ohio Revised Code 319.11 states that the County Auditor is to prepare annual financial reports within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year, notify the public that they are completed, and then make them available for inspection.  That section does not mention that they can be held up until the state audits the reports and all unresolved issues are settled.

Therefore, The Cincinnati Beacon has asked both the county auditor, Mr. Rhodes, and the state auditor if there is statutory authority for withholding the records from the public.  Even if there is some kind of authority, it seems that withholding the reports from the public for over four years is excessive.  And with no end in sight, it seems even more excessive.  The Beacon will update its readers when it receives a reply.

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anon says:
26 Jun 2008  at  12:15 am | #

Maybe you should ask the commissioners and the treasurer for their copies of the reports??????  This is really odd.  I’d inquire as to whether or not the financial reports that have been posted were “audited” and by whom and how long that took.  I would also ask the State Auditor if, in fact, they are even auditing those years, who is doing the audit, when it was initiated, and when it is scheduled to be completed.  I would also inquire with other counties about their fiscal reports and what they know about this “audited” financial report.
If, in fact, there is an “audit” going on (which I think is even a different kind of audit than the audits like that done under the Single Audit Act), law does provide that the audit can’t be released until the office’s due process rights have been fulfilled.  But that is separate from the compilation of the financial report.

How in the heck can the county be operating year after year if they don’t know their financial predicament and how can they have that ticker on the Auditor’s website if they don’t know how much money they really have??????  Is it all a gimmick?

This is really curious.

says:
26 Jun 2008  at  10:20 am | #

I would also ask the State Auditor if, in fact, they are even auditing those years, who is doing the audit, when it was initiated, and when it is scheduled to be completed.—from anon (#1)

The State Auditor’s website says that for disputed reports only government agencies can have access to the information.  The fact that there is a dispute concerning Jobs and Family Services has been reported in the Enquirer. Butler County audit reports for 2004, 2005, and 2006 are available at the State Auditor’s website.  Hamilton County’s reports are not.

Recent reports of a special investigatory audit into the County Engineer’s office could mean that the audited reports may not be available for a long time.

I would also inquire with other counties about their fiscal reports and what they know about this “audited” financial report.

I checked the Butler County Auditor’s website, http://www.butlercountyauditor.org, and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports for 2005 and 2006 are available on-line.  There is a statement that earlier reports can be seen at the office.  For 2007 there is a link to a large file called “2007 Financial Information Statement.” Unfortunately when I clicked on it there was an error and it didn’t download, but I take that as a sign that the information is available if I went to the office and asked for it.

It wouldn’t bother me at all if Mr. Rhodes would release the information as a “financial information statement” and call it a “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report” only when it passed the state audit.  His office told me, however, that only audited—i.e., by the State Auditor—information would be released to the public.

How in the heck can the county be operating year after year if they don’t know their financial predicament ...

The auditor’s office was clear—the information is not available to the public.  The commissioners have at least some information so that they can do their budget and we can get that budget information from them.

But not all information is there.  I have a couple specific questions that I want to answer by looking at the reports.  So far I have been refused.

Anon says:
26 Jun 2008  at  12:19 pm | #

Good work on this Michael. The “budget” shows only what they are going to spend. The CAFR report shows all revenue from all sources and that is what they don’t want you to see. http://WWW.CAFR1.com is a site created by a man in Arizona and this dynamic is being applied across the country to prevent citizens from asking questions and to hide financial information. Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports have been required by all entities of the government (school districts, municipalities, counties, state, etc.) Sombody is lying to you for some reason. Keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit is SOP.

R says:
26 Jun 2008  at  05:12 pm | #

# 3 That’s it.  It sure seems to be SOP here. City and County.

MEP, that would be a very possible explaination for the one issue.

Janis says:
27 Jun 2008  at  10:24 am | #

In addition to the people you have contacted, you might ask the state attorney general’s office if withholding access to the documents falls within the Sunshine Law concerning open records.

NtotheC says:
09 Jul 2008  at  03:31 pm | #

Now i’m really interested in this because Leis is saying he’s going to have to cut services and park police cars half the time in order to get a 6% budget cut as ordered by the county.  Apparently the county has been very free with their spending and don’t have any reserve funds.  I wonder why we haven’t seen a CAFR recently.

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