Promises Made, Promises Kept

PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT

Transparency
Successfully advocated for the City’s Administration to publicly disclose the locations and purchase prices of the 34 parcels of property owned by the City of Richmond Heights;

Successfully advocated for the release of the organizational documents of the Greenwood Farm Historical, Cultural & Arts Association, Inc.; and,

Created a blog and email blast to keep residents apprised of the operations of the City.

Good Government/Financial Accountability/Reduction of Waste

• Wrote the City’s policy for vehicle and cellular phone usage in compliance with best practices as outlined by the Auditor of State, thereby saving the tax-payers of Richmond Heights tens of thousands of dollars in misuse;
• Spearheaded outsourcing of the City’s bank reconciliation to the Auditor of State and unearthing more than $300,000 in accounting errors;
• Urged the City’s Administration to fulfill the State and County requirements of filing timely and accurate annual financial statements.  In 2012, for the first time in 10 years, the City filed its financial statements on time.

Collaboration and Cooperation with the Richmond Heights Local School District

• Participate annually in the Booster’s Scholarship interviews for outstanding graduating seniors involved in public service and sports;
• Wrote and sponsored a $35,000 grant from the Cuyahoga County Department of Development in order to put rubber pavement on the playground of the School;
• Organized Right to Read Week with the Principal of the Elementary School in order to introduce the children to successful members of their community.

“No” Means “Yes” for the Richmond Heights Tax Payers

• Consistently voted “no” to additional acquisitions of residential property for the City;
• Consistently voted “no” to over-budget expenditures without supporting and explanatory documentation

Commitment to Broad Based Public Service

• Commissioner, Cuyahoga County Charter Review Commission
• Commissioner, Richmond Heights Charter Review Commission
• Board Member, Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation
• Board Member, Hillcrest YMCA Board of Advisors
• Member, Women’s Committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Member, International Cleveland Communities Advisory Committee of CMA

In 2010, the City of Richmond Heights Exceeded its Original Budgeted Expenditures by $1.8 million.

As required by law, the City of Richmond Heights submits a “balanced budget” to the Cuyahoga County Budget Commission each year.  “Balanced budget” means that the City’s projected expenses for the year do not exceed the City’s projected revenue (mostly taxes) for the year.  Appropriation means expenditures authorized by City Council; no expenditures may be made without Council’s authorization.

Pretty straight forward.

City Council and the Mayor spend no less than three months each year in special meetings on Saturdays preparing the City’ budget.

The finished budget is a guiding document:  a month-to-month guidepost on how are we doing with managing the tax payers’ money.

Fiscal Year 2010	Budget	Actual	Variance
General Fund Revenue	$6,878,670	$7,947,988	16%
General Fund Appropriations	$6,739,302	$8,541,394	27%
Surplus/(Deficit)	$139,368	($593,406)

Between December 14, 2010 and December 28, 2010, Richmond Heights City Council appropriated an additional $1,857,787 over its original budgeted expenditures.

If you would like to follow along with the appropriation process, view the following documents:

The initial budget (3/9/10):  http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/19-2010.pdf

Ordinance 39 (6/22/10): http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/39-2010.pdf

Ordinance 86 (12/14/10): http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/86-2010.pdf

The City of Richmond Heights Has Not Filed an Annual Financial Statement Since 2008.

Richmond Heights’ City Council needs accurate and timely financial statements in order to make wise spending decisions – funding pensions, repairing the Kiwanis Lodge, paying off debt, etc.

Under penalty of law, every city in Ohio is required to submit an annual, audited financial statement within 150 days of the close of the fiscal year end.  Generally speaking, the annual financial statement is a compilation of the monthly financial statements over 12 months.

City Council did not receive a copy of its 2008 annual, audited financial statement until October 2010.

And it was bad.  The report contained five “material deficiencies”. 

Here is the definition of a material deficiency in the language of the State Auditor: 

A material deficiency is “a significant deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects the City’s ability to initiate, record, process, or report financial data reliably . . . such that there is more than a remote likelihood that the City’s internal control will not prevent or detect a more-than-inconsequential financial statement misstatement.”

The five material weaknesses go directly to the City’s shortcomings in financial control:

Finding Number 2008-002: Transfers and Advances

Finding Number 2008-003:  Annual Reporting

Finding Number 2008-008:  Financial Reporting

Finding Number 2008-009:  Bank Reconciliations

Finding Number 2008-010:  Capital Asset Records

The Management Letter written by the Auditor of State concerning Richmond Heights clearly explains the importance of filing accurate and timely financial statements: 

“Failing to file annual reports that are complete an accurate could be a symptom of an inadequate accounting system, inadequate training of personnel in understanding the accounting and reporting process, un-posted or un-reconciled records, or other significant issues affecting the control environment, or which may even pose fraud risks.”

When I asked the Senior Auditor in charge of the Richmond Heights audit review about how our financial preparation compared to other cities, he said, “It is the worst audit I have seen in 15 years.”

Until the deficiencies in financial reporting and financial controls are adequately addressed, should the City of Richmond Heights ask for a tax increase now without all the information it needs to be a good steward of public funds?

To see the complete 2008 audit report and Schedule of Findings:  http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsearch/Reports/2010/City_of_Richmond_Heights_08_07-Cuyahoga.pdf.

The City of Richmond Heights Has Not Reconciled its Bank Account Balances Since December 2008

The reconciliation process accounts for the differences between the balances appearing on the bank statements and the balance of cash according to the City’s records. 

It is the government equivalent of balancing your personal checking account each month.

Failure to perform bank reconciliations is cited as one of the five material deficiencies in the 2008 audit.

Because the City could not reconcile the 2007 and 2008 bank accounts, the City had to write-off $21,920 in 2007 and $18,475 in 2008.  In other words, over two years, $40,395 simply went missing. 

See Finding Number 2008-008 and 2008-009:  http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsearch/Reports/2010/City_of_Richmond_Heights_08_07-Cuyahoga.pdf.)