Columbus Dispatch...
Training sought for township fiscal officers
Township fiscal officers react to proposed law
By  Dean Narciso  and  Quan Truong

Monday May 14, 2012 

Ohio’s more than 1,300 township fiscal officers reconcile bank accounts, authorize purchases and maintain financial statements, often overseeing million-dollar budgets. 

Yet none is required to have even the most-basic bookkeeping training. 

A proposed state law would beef up training and require ongoing education for all government-finance officers as a way to reign in corruption and mismanagement. 

“One bad apple spoils the bunch, and the worms must be rooted out,” state Auditor Dave Yost wrote in a news release announcing plans last month to introduce the Fiscal Integrity Act. “Being entrusted with taxpayer dollars requires accountability and education. This bill provides both.” 

Townships, which are home to 40 percent of Ohio’s population, have almost twice as many errors and problems with their books as cities, an analysis of 10 years of state audit reports found. 

Among 3,971 state audits of cities’ financial reports, 2.8 percent had some form of error or faulty procedure. Among townships, the review of 10,597 audits revealed 5.5 percent to be problematic. 

Fiscal officers might overpay themselves, use public money for personal expenses and provide little if any documentation for transactions, such as Medicaid reimbursements, said Bob Hinkle, Ohio’s chief deputy auditor. 

Smaller governments, with fewer employers to oversee operations, typically have more problems, he said. “There’s more opportunity (for fraud and errors) because there are less controls in place.” 

State law requires only that fiscal officers be bonded and live in the township where they work. 

The Dispatch asked 1,100 of the state’s 1,308 township fiscal officers how much training they had prior to taking office and whether they thought additional training was needed. 

Of the 180 responses, almost 90 percent said they had no prior experience working with government finance or bookkeeping. A third said they didn’t have any related education or experience. More than 200 fiscal officers didn’t have emails listed with the state. 

Supporters of the bill want more public accountability, pointing to examples of theft and also mistakes and shoddy bookkeeping. 

In Franklin County, Clinton Township fiscal officer Rebecca Christian is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday for possible insurance fraud after she checked “no” on a bond application that asked whether she had ever filed for bankruptcy. Christian said it was an honest mistake and that she thought the question referred to the township’s finances, not hers.

She was re-elected but didn’t take office after the township incurred state and federal fines for bad bookkeeping. 

Despite a 20-year stint as fiscal officer, Christian said she often felt overwhelmed. The $21,000-a-year job was considered part time but required much more, she said. “There was nobody to tell me what to do or how to do it. You learn by doing. There is no manual for this.” 

Many fiscal officers think the reforms can’t come soon enough. 

“I am surprised that it has taken this long for someone to introduce legislation to require some basic training,” said Richard Bair, a three-term fiscal officer from Gratis Township in Preble County. 

Others aren’t so eager for change. 

Sharon Chenoweth of Tiffin Township in Adams County called it an attempt by the state administration to “eliminate the local government” and keep the “average person” from taking office. 

Others are worried that the additional training would be a burden, especially on smaller, rural townships. 

“The general idea of training is a good thing, but the number of hours may be an area of concern for us,” said Matt DeTemple, the executive director of the Ohio Township Association. 

Many fiscal officers have full-time jobs and family commitments, said Roger E. Crowe, fiscal officer in Hardin County’s Buck Township. “Why punish all for the possible shortcomings of a few?” 

Joan Downing, fiscal officer of Logan County’s Pleasant Township, thinks “the legislature wants us to perform as CPAs, at only a fraction of the pay.” 

Jamie Miles, a certified public accountant and fiscal officer of Franklin County’s Norwich Township, thinks training is essential and also favors educational requirements. 

“I am responsible for a $13 million (budget) and I am not even required to have a basic understanding of debits and credits,” she said. 

The job has evolved into “much more than just a bookkeeper,” she said. “It truly is the chief financial officer of the organization.”The complexity of township bookkeeping varies, as the communities can range from small and rural to larger ones with budgets bigger than some cities’. Townships are the country’s oldest and simplest form of government. It is a system that keeps the people close to the lawmakers, DeTemple said. Township fiscal officers require very little other than votes to take office, while cities perform national searches for finance directors. 

The legislation was introduced in the Ohio House on May 1 by Rep. Christina Hagan, an Alliance Republican. Co-sponsor Sen. Tim Shaffer, a Lancaster Republican, said he’s open to negotiating but thinks the proposed standards are reasonable. 

Read this and other articles at the Columbus Dispatch