Walbridge: Mayor pleased with audit but improvements needed

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Walbridge Mayor Ed Kolanko last week said he was pleased with the results of a state audit of the village’s financial records but added there were some areas the administration and council needed to address.
“We look to improve on it but the money is all there and accounted for. We had a new fiscal officer come in the summer of 2023 and I think he’s done a fine job,” the mayor said. “We’re already making the correct adjustments.”
A few findings of the audit stemmed from grants the village has received for infrastructure projects.
“Anytime you get grant money it becomes confusing with three or four entities. We have to let the county know we have an additional $150,000 or $200,000 coming in and making sure the revenues offset the expenses when they’re going out,” he said, adding the exit interview with the auditors went well.
According to the auditor’s findings:
-In 2023, payments made by the Ohio Public Works Commission on behalf of the village for its share of a project amounting to $34,715 were not booked by the village, resulting in an understatement of both loan proceeds and capital outlay in the capital projects fund.
-In 2023, payments by the Ohio Department of Transportation on behalf of the village amounting to $170,886 were not booked by the village, resulting in an understatement of inter-governmental revenue and capital outlay in the capital projects fund.
-In 2022, payments made by the Ohio Public Works Commission for the village share of two projects were not recorded by the village or were incorrectly recorded, resulting in an understatement of $25,295 in loan proceeds; of $3,936 in capital outlay, and an overstatement of $25,359 in the capital projects fund.
- Two errors from 2022 and 2023 were also found in the mayor’s court where distributions to other government entities were incorrectly recorded, resulting in incorrect amounts of $5,180 going to the custodial fund in 2023 and $10,213 in 2022.
The audit report says the errors “were the result of inadequate policies and procedures in reviewing the financial statements.
“The accompanying financial statements and accounting records have been adjusted to correct these errors. In addition…we also noted errors ranging from $3,629 to $13,244 that were not material and not posted to the financial statements.”
The audit also found issues with the village’s appropriation process. State law requires that the total appropriations from each fund isn’t to exceed the total of the estimated revenue available as certified by a county budget commission, or in case of appeal, by the board of tax appeals.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, the village appropriations exceeded the amount certified as available by the Wood County Budget Commission in the capital projects fund by $952,352.
“Failure to limit appropriations to the amount certified…due to deficiencies in the village’s compliance monitoring policies and procedures could result in overspending and negative cash fund balances,” the report says.
In another finding, the audit states the village had “inadequate policies and procedures in approving and reviewing budget versus actual information,” resulting in another capital projects fund having expenditures exceed appropriations by $59,448 as of Dec. 31, 2023.
There were no findings for recovery of missing funds in the report.