Commissioners criticize auditor’s budget, call for transparency after budget commission dispute

Commissioners used the meeting to raise concerns about the county auditor’s recent budget increases and the conduct of the budget commission.

One commissioner said the auditor’s expenditures for two funds rose from $1,000,008.87 in 2022 to $3,409,827 in 2025 — a difference the speaker calculated as $1,522,492, or roughly 80.7% — and urged the auditor to rein in spending before criticizing other taxing authorities. The speaker said the board should “root out waste, abuse, and excess wherever it is found” and urged continued work by the budget commission to establish transparent practices for future cycles.

Other commissioners criticized the budget commission for excluding public comment on some occasions and raised concerns about alleged violations of Ohio public-records and open-meetings requirements. The finance director said some transfers at the auditor’s office were not in accordance with standard practices and may be in violation of the Ohio Revised Code; he said he had not received a response to a previous letter requesting clarification. Commissioners asked that a follow-up letter be sent to document which items were not funded in this year’s budget as approved by the board.

No action by the board directly altered the auditor’s budget during the meeting; commissioners discussed follow-up steps, including asking staff to pursue compliance inquiries and to document transfer practices for public record.