{"id":121063,"date":"2019-08-07T06:24:05","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T11:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=121063"},"modified":"2019-08-08T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T12:22:08","slug":"county-auditor-treasurer-feud-creating-fiscal-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/08\/07\/county-auditor-treasurer-feud-creating-fiscal-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"County auditor, treasurer feud a problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the recently announced criminal investigation of the Van Wert County Auditor\u2019s Office, there has also been a conflict between the offices of County Auditor Philip Baxter and County Treasurer Nathan Vandenbroek that has not only frustrated other county officials, but has made determining the exact cash position of the county extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the relationship between the treasurer and the auditor is what it should be,\u201d said County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger, who also acknowledged that reconciling the county\u2019s ledgers has been a problem. \u201cStatutorily, they\u2019re required to balance the books at the end of every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While neither Lichtensteiger nor Commissioner Stan Owens would speculate on how long it has been since the county\u2019s books have been in balance, Lichtensteiger noted: \u201cIt\u2019s been some time since they\u2019ve been balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the problem with balancing the county\u2019s books, there have also been unconfirmed reports of required payments not being made by the treasurer\u2019s office to some county property owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the appointment of Vandenbroek last September to replace retiring treasurer Bev Fuerst, there were some reports of problems, but the situation reportedly worsened starting in March, when Baxter, who was elected county auditor last November, took over that job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

After talks held with both officials over a period of time did not produce a solution, the commissioners said they are now taking action they hope finally brings some fiscal, if not personal, harmony to the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of last Thursday, Owens said the commissioners have approved bringing an independent auditor in to determine what is needed to balance the books in the treasurer\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to get the books in order, reconciled, and (see they remain) in good order,\u201d the commissioner noted. \u201c(It) is our intent to see that that happens.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owens said the action taken would currently affect only the treasurer\u2019s office, because of the ongoing criminal investigation in the auditor\u2019s office by the Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the messy situation not only highlights how important it is for the county\u2019s two primary fiscal agencies to work in harmony, but also underscores the uncertainties and frustrations that arise when things get out of kilter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commissioners noted the current situation also shows how little power one county elected official has over another elected official. While the commissioners can hire and fire appointed officials, only the voters or the state can remove an elected official from office — and the criteria for doing so are relatively few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of people misconstrue this, but we\u2019re not their boss,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, other than following election regulations and getting elected, there are no statutory requirements to be a county auditor or treasurer. For instance, neither position requires a financial or accounting background, nor any prior experience in a fiscal position. Neither Baxter nor Vandenbroek have finance-related degrees, although both have some business education or experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this time, Owens said the commissioners are waiting to see what firm will be handling the upcoming audit of the treasurer\u2019s office — while also trying to avoid making any prejudgments about what they may find before all the information is in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaking any prejudgments prior to that audit would be inappropriate,\u201d Owens added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor In addition to the recently announced criminal investigation of the Van Wert County Auditor\u2019s Office, there has also been a conflict between the offices of County Auditor Philip Baxter and County Treasurer Nathan Vandenbroek that has not only frustrated other county officials, but has made determining the exact cash position of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 09:47:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}