County recognized with State Auditor's Award

TIFFIN — Members of the Seneca County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, December 9 where they were joined by special guest Scott Sands, Northwest Liaison for Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber. Sands presented the Auditor of State Award to Seneca County, an award that recognizes entities for keeping accurate financial records, governing bodies that demonstrate their commitment to efficient, effective, and transparent service. Auditor Faber shared in a press release, "This award honors public entities that have put in the hard work to keep their finances in order." The Auditor of State's Office presents the awards to local governments and school districts upon the completion of a financial audit. Entities that receive the award must maintain a strict criteria to receive a "clean" audit report. Additionally, Seneca County Auditor Julie Adkins provided a brief update regarding an incident that occurred with one of the county's servers– noting there was no breach or loss of data, but rather the server with the issue is slightly dated. In other news Members of the board discussed a handful of new business items, primarily reductions pertaining to the Workforce Investment Act Fund. "These reductions were simply unused or leftover funds," noted County Administrator Barb Patterson. Patterson also shared the county recently received notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the county will receive a $560,000 grant for renovations to the Agricultural Service Center, formerly home of the Advertiser-Tribune. The funding, she said, comes through direct spending in Ohio's 26th Congressional District. Board of Commissioners President Tony Paradiso added that Sen. Bernie Moreno described the award as grant funding the county can use for the renovation project. "We've got $390,000 from the state and $560,000 from the feds, so about $950,000 in free money going into the renovation of the Ag Center building, which is just awesome," shared Paradiso. New Business Several resolutions were also passed at Tuesday's meeting, including the following: • A resolution approving the Seneca County Cybersecurity Plan, effective immediately. • A resolution certifying unpaid assessments to the Seneca County Auditor for collection - ORC Section 6117.02, approved Dec. 9, 2025. • A resolution appointing Judy Dezse to the Seneca Metropolitan Housing Authority, term expiring July 22, 2027. • A resolution authorizing the Seneca County Board of Commissioners to enter into an agreement/contract with Serenity Christian Counseling, LLC for parent consultation and assessment services on behalf of the Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services. • A resolution authorizing a contract service agreement with Crawford County Board of Commissioners for the receipt, custody and care of Crawford County Juveniles on Behalf of the Seneca County Youth Center for 2026. The next regularly scheduled commissioners meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, December 16.