Ohio auditor cites Niles over infrastructure recordkeeping

NILES — The Ohio auditor has cited the city for noncompliance because of inadequate keeping of records on the city’s infrastructure.

City Auditor Charles Nader is not surprised, however.

“These findings are from the audit of our records in 2005 so we knew this was coming,” Nader said. “I expect to have the same results for the audits of 2006 and 2007, but we are trying to do something about it.”

The audit was released later this week even though it pertains to city records from three years ago. The same discrepancies were cited in the 2004 audit released last year and are referred to as “material control weaknesses.”

Nader said that new accounting standards adopted by the state several years ago require cities to have a complete infrastructure inventory. That means a listing of all streets, sewer, water and electric lines and meters, utility poles, bridges and their replacement costs.

Nader said before the standards were adopted, cities were not responsible for infrastructure inventory.

“We will have to contact an evaluation company so they can come in and give us an accounting of everything,” Nader said. He estimated the evaluation costs between $10,000 and $15,000.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com