Audit of Stark County Identifies Over-Taxing of Citizens on Property Tax

An audit of Stark County has identified four opportunities for improvement by the State Auditor's Office. The audit found that property taxes (which are calculated through a mill levy) should be dropped to zero for the general fund for residents, given a surplus in Stark County's general fund. Instead, the County decided to decrease the general fund mill levy by 26% from the prior year. As of December 31, 2023, Stark County had a remaining fund balance of approximately $21.7 million in its general fund. Annual expenditures and transfers out for the general fund for 2023 were approximately $11.7 million.

Approximately 33,767 residents reside in the Stark County region, anyone who owns property (including homeowners) would be impacted by this decision. The audit period reviewed January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

The other three opportunities for improvement were:

• Lack of supporting documentation for elements of the budgeting process
• Weakness in internal controls for auditor-identified adjustments, which is known as "material weakness"
• Lack of segregation of duties for the Water District, which is where one person is responsible for too many parts of a financial process

To download the full report, visit: https://bit.ly/StarkCounty25