State auditors say Newton Falls Joint Fire District failed to make timely payments to IRS and state

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The Newton Falls Joint Fire District was fined $5,347 for making late payments from 2014 through 2015 to the state, IRS and Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

A financial audit of the fire district determined that former fiscal officer Joseph Sosnowski properly withheld income taxes and pension contributions from employee paychecks but on several occasions did not forward the money to the appropriate entities on time.

“The district should be making timely payments on all obligations,” auditors wrote. “Failing to make timely payments could result in unnecessary and excessive disbursements.”

The late payments yielded penalties and interest of $5,209.73 from the IRS, $131.46 from OPES and $5.36 from the Ohio Department of Taxation.

The dollars used to pay off the penalties and interest did not serve a proper public purpose, so auditors issued a $5,347 finding for recovery against Sosnowski, the auditor’s office said in a news release.

The state auditor’s office placed the fire district on the “unauditable” list in August 2016 after district officials were unable to provide complete financial records and bank reconciliations. Thursday’s audit release indicates that the district is no longer on the unauditable list, state auditors said.