Holmes County earns state award for clean financial reporting

Holmes County earned the Auditor of State Award for excellence in financial reporting after its books passed the state’s clean-audit test, a public sign that county finances met the standards Jackie McKee and her staff are expected to uphold.

Ohio Auditor Keith Faber congratulated McKee and the Holmes County Auditor’s Office on the recognition, which is reserved for entities that file financial reports on time through the Hinkle System on a GAAP basis and avoid the kinds of problems that can cloud public accounts. That means no findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, questioned costs or related management-letter issues, along with no management-letter comments about bank reconciliations, late reporting, ethics referrals, or public records and public meetings problems.

For taxpayers, that kind of result matters because it is one of the clearest checks on whether county money is being tracked in a way officials, residents and outside reviewers can trust. Clean financial reporting helps commissioners, department heads and voters see that revenue, expenses and balances are being recorded consistently before decisions are made about next year’s spending, road work, equipment purchases or other services paid for with local dollars.

Holmes County’s most recent state audit covers the year ended Dec. 31, 2023. The audit materials were prepared by Julian & Grube, Inc., and reviewed by the Ohio Auditor of State, which accepted the work in lieu of a full audit required by law. The state auditor’s office reviews more than 5,900 state and local government agencies, making the award a notable mark of compliance in a system that depends on accurate records from county offices across Ohio.

McKee has served as Holmes County auditor since March 1999. County biography material says she has long experience in accounting and governmental accounting, has worked as a hands-on auditor, served on a legislative committee for the County Auditors Association of Ohio, served as president of the Northeast Auditors Association and sits on a regional advisory board to the state auditor.

The award gives Holmes County a straightforward message to carry into future budgets: the numbers checked out. In a county where residents depend on local government to handle tax dollars carefully, clean reporting is less about ceremony than about confidence that the books are in order before the next spending decision is made.