May 31, 2000
Ohio auditor continues to review Attica's books
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
Six months after the removal of Linda Stoldt from her position as Attica's clerk-treasurer, the Ohio auditor's office is continuing to review the village's 1997, 1998 and 1999 books. Meanwhile, the village used figures from last year for which it has complete records as a baseline for this year's starting balance.
"We're looking for fraud," said Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for State Auditor Jim Petro. "It would be too costly to recreate every document."
Stoldt was removed following a two-day hearing in Common Pleas Court which was the culmination of nine months of fruitless effort by the state auditor to get the documents needed to audit Attica's books for 1997 and 1998. In October, she had been found in contempt of a subpoena requiring her to turn over the records.
State law allows the auditor to remove elected officials who refuse to keep financial records. Stoldt is the only official removed since the statute was enacted in 1985.
During both hearings, Stoldt said the records in question were unavailable in a timely manner because a fire at the village hall had destroyed or damaged many and made others difficult to locate. She also claimed that the books were in disarray when she was appointed to the office in 1994.
Current Clerk-Treasurer Larry Dunson said up to half of the village's records from 1997 to 1999 are missing. Trying to replace them all would cost $100,000 &emdash; one-fifth of Attica's budget.
Dunson won a three-way race in the November election. His term officially began April 1, but he was sworn in as interim clerk-treasurer following Stoldt's removal.
Using the percentages allotted to each department in 1996 &emdash; the last year for which there are complete records &emdash; and applying them to Attica's bank balance as of the beginning of the year, Dunson said, the village was able to give a starting balance to the village's departments.
Earlier this year, Attica signed on to the auditor's Uniform Accounting Network. The network is a computer system designed to help villages and townships manage payroll, accounting and inventory. For a fee based on the size of the village budget, the auditor provides the equipment, software, upgrades, a toll-free helpline and on-line support. Attica was the last of the county's 15 townships and six villages to take advantage of the network.
Now, Dunson is working on putting the numbers into the system, a job which he said should be complete by the beginning of July.
"It's takes a lot of time when you don't have the records," he said.
Despite the slow going, "I'm extremely happy with where we are," he said. "We're paying all our bills and we've got our heads above water."