On September 8, 2011, the Auditor of the State of Ohio, Mr. Dave Yost, released his report on the recent audit of the finances of the City of New Philadelphia for the year of 2010. On the whole, the City is doing relatively well. But the audit report exposed a problem which needs immediate correction and suggests an inability on the part of the City Treasurer, Mr. David Johnson, to efficiently perform the job for which he was elected.
Quoting Mr. Yost, “The City’s 2010 general checking/investment bank accounts were not always reconciled to the City’s book balances on a monthly basis by the City Treasurer. These reconciliations were only prepared by the City Treasurer through June 2010. No general checking/investment bank account reconciliations were presented for audit by the City Treasurer for the period July through December 2010. The January through June 2010 general checking/investment reconciliations were subsequently determined to be incomplete and inaccurate with unreconciled differences that varied monthly.”
In short, the City’s checkbook did not balance with the bank’s statement. To make matters worse, from January through June of 2010, while the City Treasurer submitted monthly reports to the City Council, those reports were incomplete and incorrect. From July through December of 2010, reports were not even submitted to the City Council by Mr. Johnson.
Keeping such records is not a complex task. Housewives do this on a continuing basis when balancing their checkbooks against the monthly statements sent them by their banks. Businesses do this on a daily basis. If one’s arithmetic isn’t up to par, there are numerous computer programs available to help not only the housewife, but the City Treasurer as well.
An outside accountant was hired the first of the year to assist Mr. Johnson but this appears to be an exercise in futility. Frankly, it didn’t do any good as there have been no financial reports forthcoming for the current year which have not contained substantial errors. In the first two years of Johnson’s tenure in his current office, reports sent to council from his office were not in balance. That trend continues to exist.
A number of questions arise when reading the State Auditor’s report about the City Treasurer’s performance, not all of them related to Mr. Johnson. Why did it take such a long time for the Administration to recognize that this problem existed? Why was there not concern expressed by Beth Gundy, the City Auditor, about errors in the Treasurer’s report? Why did not the President of Council, Mr. Day, not press Mr. Johnson for monthly reports when they were incorrect or not forthcoming?
The answers to those questions probably will never surface, which is a shame. The possibilities are chilling: Not everybody reads the reports; many members of Council do not understand what the reconciliation reports mean, which is chilling as Councilman Maurer is a branch manager of a local savings and loan association and would be expected to knowledgeable on such affairs; Is there animosity between Administration members which prevents open communication between departments? Or is the answer that members of the Administration and City Council just don’t care and sit in their positions for reasons other than for the good of the city?
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the City is in jeopardy, so much so that the State of Ohio Audit Report states, “It is our opinion, that the current Treasurer must work diligently to get all his records reconciled to date as soon as possible. If the treasurer feels that he is unable to do this then he may conclude that he should relinquish this position for the benefit of the city. This out-of-balance situation and delayed reconcilements should not continue.”
There is one other problem which should be confronted. The lack of interest on the part of the media to recognize that a problem exists in our community. It is difficult to imagine that the Times-Reporter and the two local radio stations failed to recognize that there is a financial problem in New Philadelphia. It is strange that they had no knowledge of the Ohio Auditor’s report. Probably they didn’t care that much. Strange, though I didn’t have that much trouble finding it.
While Dave Johnson is ultimately responsible for what occurs in his office, why was he apparently alone when his present dilemma was developing? Where were his friends and associates then and where are they now? Did he ask for advice and get none? Did he refuse offered suggestions and turn their makers away? Did he really see the problem as it grew in scope? I guess we’ll never know.
Quoting Mr. Yost, “The City’s 2010 general checking/investment bank accounts were not always reconciled to the City’s book balances on a monthly basis by the City Treasurer. These reconciliations were only prepared by the City Treasurer through June 2010. No general checking/investment bank account reconciliations were presented for audit by the City Treasurer for the period July through December 2010. The January through June 2010 general checking/investment reconciliations were subsequently determined to be incomplete and inaccurate with unreconciled differences that varied monthly.”
In short, the City’s checkbook did not balance with the bank’s statement. To make matters worse, from January through June of 2010, while the City Treasurer submitted monthly reports to the City Council, those reports were incomplete and incorrect. From July through December of 2010, reports were not even submitted to the City Council by Mr. Johnson.
Keeping such records is not a complex task. Housewives do this on a continuing basis when balancing their checkbooks against the monthly statements sent them by their banks. Businesses do this on a daily basis. If one’s arithmetic isn’t up to par, there are numerous computer programs available to help not only the housewife, but the City Treasurer as well.
An outside accountant was hired the first of the year to assist Mr. Johnson but this appears to be an exercise in futility. Frankly, it didn’t do any good as there have been no financial reports forthcoming for the current year which have not contained substantial errors. In the first two years of Johnson’s tenure in his current office, reports sent to council from his office were not in balance. That trend continues to exist.
A number of questions arise when reading the State Auditor’s report about the City Treasurer’s performance, not all of them related to Mr. Johnson. Why did it take such a long time for the Administration to recognize that this problem existed? Why was there not concern expressed by Beth Gundy, the City Auditor, about errors in the Treasurer’s report? Why did not the President of Council, Mr. Day, not press Mr. Johnson for monthly reports when they were incorrect or not forthcoming?
The answers to those questions probably will never surface, which is a shame. The possibilities are chilling: Not everybody reads the reports; many members of Council do not understand what the reconciliation reports mean, which is chilling as Councilman Maurer is a branch manager of a local savings and loan association and would be expected to knowledgeable on such affairs; Is there animosity between Administration members which prevents open communication between departments? Or is the answer that members of the Administration and City Council just don’t care and sit in their positions for reasons other than for the good of the city?
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the City is in jeopardy, so much so that the State of Ohio Audit Report states, “It is our opinion, that the current Treasurer must work diligently to get all his records reconciled to date as soon as possible. If the treasurer feels that he is unable to do this then he may conclude that he should relinquish this position for the benefit of the city. This out-of-balance situation and delayed reconcilements should not continue.”
There is one other problem which should be confronted. The lack of interest on the part of the media to recognize that a problem exists in our community. It is difficult to imagine that the Times-Reporter and the two local radio stations failed to recognize that there is a financial problem in New Philadelphia. It is strange that they had no knowledge of the Ohio Auditor’s report. Probably they didn’t care that much. Strange, though I didn’t have that much trouble finding it.
While Dave Johnson is ultimately responsible for what occurs in his office, why was he apparently alone when his present dilemma was developing? Where were his friends and associates then and where are they now? Did he ask for advice and get none? Did he refuse offered suggestions and turn their makers away? Did he really see the problem as it grew in scope? I guess we’ll never know.
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