Hancock County Fair reports fraught with errors

FINDLAY — Hancock County Fair Board 2022 financial statements contained errors — in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — about cash balance, spending and grants received. The mistakes were found by the State Auditor's Office. No audit information on the fair board's financial reporting in 2023 and 2024 has been made available yet. State audits have found problems with the fair board's financial reporting for years. As one example: In 2016, debt payments were recorded as capital outlays; in 2019, capital outlays were recorded as debt payments, previous audits found. In 2016, state support was recorded as racing revenue. As a result, the Hancock County commissioners are withholding the fair board's $74,494 in quarterly revenue from the county's hotel-motel tax. The commissioners said they will release the funds when the fair board gets its fiscal reporting in order. "Failure to complete accurate financial statements and notes to the financial statements could lead to the (fair board) making misinformed decisions," the state audit said. "Maintaining organized documentation and support for financial transactions is essential in assuring the (fair board's) financial statements are not materially misstated." The fair board has since undertaken a variety of corrective measures, fair board Secretary Haley Reese said. It hired a certified public accounting firm and a full-time bookkeeper, adopted suggestions from the state Agriculture Department and has begun budget meetings with state officials, she said. The most recent state audit highlighted several errors in the fair board's financial statements and notes to the financial statements: • "Cash balance, beginning of year was understated in the amount of $216,303 in 2022;" • "Rentals receipts were overstated in the amount of $71,583 in 2022;" • "Other operating disbursements were understated in the amount of $484,337 in 2022;" • "Federal grants receipts were understated in the amount of $400,000 in 2022;" • "Debt service disbursements were understated in the amount of $143,012 in 2022;" • "Tables included in the deposits footnote and debt footnote in 2022 did not have amounts included." The audit also stated that the fair board did not maintain proper documentation and support for admissions during 2022 or 2021 as a result of inadequate policies and procedures over admissions receipts. "Failure to utilize ticket summary sheets and reconcile daily cash ticket sales results in a lack of accountability of all funds. This increases the risk of fraud and could result in incorrect amounts of money being received by the (fair board) for deposits," the audit stated. "The (fair board) should develop and implement policies and procedures for the accountability of ticket sales, including the use of ticket summary sheets and daily ticket reconciliations."