A recent financial audit of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County by Auditor of State Dave Yost’s office has returned a clean audit report. The city’s excellent record keeping has qualified it for the Auditor of State Award with Distinction.
“Good finance is important to everything government does,” Yost said. "Sound budgetary decisions depend on clean and accurate books."
The Auditor of State Award with Distinction is presented to local governments and school districts upon the completion of a financial audit. Entities that receive the award meet the following criteria of a “clean” audit report:
- The entity must file timely financial reports with the Auditor of State’s office in the form of a CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report);
- The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, Single Audit findings or questioned costs;
- The entity’s management letter contains no comments related to:
- Ethics referrals
- Questioned costs less than $10,000
- Lack of timely report submission
- Reconciliation
- Failure to obtain a timely Single Audit
- Findings for recovery less than $100
- Public meetings or public records
The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,800 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.
“We are pleased that, once again, the Library’s priority in maintaining accurate records has been recognized by the state,” said Fiscal Officer Molly DeFosse.
The results of the report were presented June 9 to the Library’s Board of Trustees. The final audit report is on the Ohio Auditor’s website: http://cinlib.org/1OwmeRy.
