Hancock County withholds funds from ag society

FINDLAY — The Hancock County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to temporarily withhold the Hancock County Agricultural Society's share of bed tax revenue until the state can complete its audit of the fair board's 2023-24 financial records. "My concern is, until we see an audit that is auditable and pretty clean, I have concerns by distributing that lodging tax," the commissioners said during the meeting. "I just want to see the audit done and the approval of the auditor's office. Then we know that we're in good standing and that we are not a part of anything that might not be proper. That's why we put the pause on it from our part." The HCAS owns and operates the Hancock County Fairgrounds and gets a share of hotel, motel and other lodging establishment tax from the county, otherwise known as bed tax. Commissioners have decided to hold back that payment until the state audit is complete and the board can show a clean record of its finances. The decision follows concerns raised earlier this year when the state flagged the board's 2021-22 audit as "unauditable." Fair board representatives said the difficulties began when its longtime treasurer stepped away in 2022 due to family related health matters. After his departure, the board struggled with bookkeeping, resulting in months without bank reconciliations. "We realized, unfortunately, with his absence, which was not anything he could control, we got a little out of whack," fair board secretary Haley Reese said. To get finances back on track, the board hired a Certified Public Accountant firm to help with records, brought on full-time bookkeeper Shelly Metzger, created a separate account for livestock sale proceeds, adopted the Ohio Department of Agriculture's suggested chart of accounts and began regular budget meetings with state officials, Reese said. "We've had to implement some new policies and procedures, because we know that these are vital and we know that healthy books are vital," she said. "We want to make sure that they are pristine and everybody knows what they're looking at." The board hopes the state will sign off on the audit before the Hancock County Fair, which starts Aug. 26, but acknowledged that the timeline may change depending on the auditor's schedule. "Everything is now straightened out for 2024 since we've had those starting cash balances corrected," Reese said. "Everything is aligned, we know where everything is, and it is now in the hands of our auditor." The commissioners said the pause in funding is not meant to strip the Agricultural Society of money, but ensure that taxpayer dollars are not released until after official approval. The Agricultural Society's bed tax will remain withheld until the audit is finalized, and all other revenues for the funding will be released. "We enjoy partnering with the Agricultural Society," the commissioners said. "It's a really positive thing in the county, so we like to make sure that we're partnered with good things and that those audits get passed so everybody can sleep at night." Going forward, the commissioners requested quarterly financial statements be provided by the fair board to further strengthen transparency in use of public funds.