It is my personal belief that government exists to

provide service. You deserve our best efforts to

provide that service.

- Matt Nolan, Warren County Auditor

1

Departmental Updates

The general public may be unaware of what all the County Auditors Office is responsible for. Most people know that the Auditors Office assesses real estate taxes, but that is just one component of your Auditors Office. From dog licenses to payroll to weights and measures, the Auditors office is tasked with many duties necessary to maintain our County.

Real Estate Abatements

o There are various reasons that an abatement can be granted for a property. The Auditors Office administers the abatement and maintains the abated accounts for the duration of the abatement.

Agricultural Programs o CAUV: Changes the way that commercial agricultural land is valued o State Certified Forest: Auditors Office works with the State to give a reduction on the value of certified land o Agricultural District: Auditors Office manages the application process for Agricultural Districts

Board of Revision o Formal complaint process against real estate values and requests for remission of penalties

Budgets o Monitors corporation, township, and other political subdivisions resources & expenditures

Conveyance of Property Ownership o Transfers real estate & mobile home ownership

Other Reductions and Credits o Applies additional reductions such as Owner Occupied, Non-Business, & Homestead

Real Estate Valuations o Establish all real estate values and maintain detailed records of every parcel

Residential Rental Property Registration

Special Assessments o Various entities certify additional assessments to a property. The Auditor applies these to tax bills.

Tax Exemption o Works with the State of Ohio to administer tax exemptions on qualifying properties

Tax Rates and Levies o Certify collection amounts for levies o Establish tax rates for bond levies

Tax Settlements o Distribution of all real estate taxes collected

Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) o Tax Incremental Financing is a mechanism used by local governments to finance infrastructure improvements

and residential rehabilitation. With a TIF, a portion of a propertys taxable value makes payments in lieu of taxes that go towards the project that the TIF was set up to benefit. Unlike a typical abatement, the same amount of money is collected for the property, but the way that those dollars are distributed is different.

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Year

Dog

Licenses

Issued

License

Change from

2012 Population

Pop.

Change

from 2012

2012 29,038 0.00% 217,310 0.00%

2013 28,608 -1.48% 219,169 0.86%

2014 27,564 -5.08% 221,659 2.00%

2015 27,108 -6.65% 224,469 3.29%

2016 27,367 -5.75% 226,000 4.00%

Licensing Vendor Licensing

A person or entity making taxable (retail) sales and/or services is required to obtain a vendors license. A taxable sale includes any transaction in which title or possession of tangible personal property or the benefit of certain services is, or will be, transferred or provided for a price. All retail sales are subject to the tax unless specifically exempted in Ohio's sales tax law. Vendors licenses are issued by the County Auditor to vendors with a fixed place of business in Ohio. Vendors must have one regular vendor's license for each sales location. There is a $25 application fee for vendors licenses.

Cigarette Licensing

A Cigarette License may be purchased from the Warren County Auditor's Office for $125.00 for the full year and prorated thereafter. The license is good for one year from the fourth Monday in May. For example: license year 2015-2016 = May 25, 2015 to May 23, 2016.

Dog Licensing

Ohio law (ORC 955.01) requires that all dogs more than three months of age be licensed each year no later than January 31st. A Warren County Dog License (dog tag) is available at the Warren County Auditor's Office, from an authorized dog licensing agent, or from www.wcauditor.org. The Warren County Commissioners determine the license fee annually. A penalty, which is equal to the cost of the tag, is charged for purchasing a license after January 31st. If the dog was obtained after January 31st the owner has thirty (30) days to license the dog without penalty.

Although population has gone up at a steady pace in Warren County since 2012, the volume of dog licenses issued has decreased. The concern is that many dog owners are not getting their dogs licensed and the Warren County Dog & Kennel Fund is no longer receiving the revenue to remain self-sustaining.

-1.48%

-5.08%

-6.65%

-5.75%

0.00% 0.86% 2.00%

3.29% 4.00%

-8.00%

-6.00%

-4.00%

-2.00%

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Dog License and Population Percent Change Compared to 2012 License Change / Population Change

Dog License numbers by year compared to population in Warren County. Note that 2016 population is estimated.

3

Accounting and Payroll Annually Issued Tax Forms

o Issues W2s to all County Employees o Issues 1099s to all vendors that were paid more than $600 per year

Tax Exempt Forms o Supply county departments with tax exempt forms to ensure less waste of taxpayers money

Unclaimed o Pay out unclaimed funds when requested (authorized form must be completed and notarized first)

Public Records Request o Fulfill all Payroll or Accounting public records request as needed

Comprehensive Annual Finance Report (CAFR) o Prepare yearly CAFR and submit to State o Track capital assets such as county building projects & improvements, computer systems, infrastructure

projects (roads & bridges), and water/sewer projects from inception to completion

Vendor Setup for Accounting o Enter new and change existing vendors; request W9s, Send 1099s to applicable vendors

Accounts Payable/Receivable o Audit and process Commissioner departments and agency bills o Receive pay-in and wire-ins o Balance with Treasurer o Supply monthly expenditures and receipts report to departments

County Payroll o Process all expenditure related items for payroll (voluntary deductions, federal, state and city taxes, OPERS

retirement contributions and Medicare taxes) o Process and submit monthly, quarterly, and yearly reporting to federal and state agencies

Weights and Measures Scales

o Tests scales at various retail locations to ensure that they are calibrated correctly and that the weights that

you are paying for is what you receive. This includes larger scales such as vehicle & livestock scales as well

as nearly every cash register in the County.

Gas Pumps

o Inspect pumps throughout the County to ensure the amount of gas that you pay for is what you receive

o Inspect pumps for accuracy and look for gas pump skimmers

o Check weight of liquid propane gas tanks to ensure that customers are getting the advertised amount

Price Checks

o Visit retailers around the County and conduct inspections to ensure that the price that merchandise is

marked is the price that is charged at the register

4

Success Stories

Auditor of State Certificate of Achievement for Excellence For the 25th year in a row, the Warren County Auditors office has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association. In 2016, the Auditors Office added another Auditor of State Award with Distinction to their achievements. This award was presented to the Financial Office employees on October 25th, 2016 at the Board of Commissioners meeting. To earn such an award there are criteria that must be met by our annual Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The Auditor of State Award with Distinction is presented to local governments and school districts upon the completion of a financial audit. Entities that receive the award meet the following criteria of a clean audit report:

The entity must file timely financial reports with the Auditor of States office in the form of a CAFR.

The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, single audit findings or questioned costs.

The entitys management letter contains no comments related to:

Ethics referrals

Questioned costs less than $10,000

Lack of timely report submission

Reconciliation

Failure to obtain a timely Single Audit

Findings for recovery less than $100

Public meetings or public records

No other financial or other concerns exist that involve the eligible entity.

5

Goals

Current & Ongoing Goals

1. DO MORE WITH LESS: INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY WHILE DECREASING PAYROLL

There was a concentrated effort to reduce payroll expenses in recent years despite increases in demand. The

increases in demand for Auditors Office services can be seen through various indicators that directly result in

the need for more output from the departments that fall under the Auditors umbrella.

2016 Population based off 2015 and the increase trend year to year since 2012

While output from the Auditors Office greatly increased, payroll and supplies expenses went down. From

2012 to 2016, there was a 16% drop in payroll (including general payroll, overtime, & insurance) and nearly a

32% drop in materials and supplies expenses.

$1,505,942.12

$1,454,603.82 $1,407,037.03

$1,320,959.34

$1,259,067.77

$1,200,000

$1,250,000

$1,300,000

$1,350,000

$1,400,000

$1,450,000

$1,500,000

$1,550,000

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Total Auditor's Office Payroll Expenses Includes general payroll, overtime, health insurance, and life insurance for Accounting, Payroll, & Real Estate departments

Metric 2012 2016 Percent Increase

2012 to 2016

Accounting & Payroll Transactions 103,421 129,393 25.11%

CAUV Initial Application Accounts 189 362 91.53%

County Building Permits Issued 1,235 4,642 275.87%

Real Estate Conveyances 7,842 9,475 20.82%

TIF Accounts 991 1,063 7.27%

Total Accounts 92,159 95,404 3.52%

Warren County Population 217,310 226,000 4.00%

Estimated Land Splits 439 1,449 230.07%

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2. TRANSPARENCY & ANNUAL REPORTING

In an ongoing effort to provide more transparency and

more access to public records, the Auditors Office has

added Online Checkbook to our website

(www.wcauditor.org). Online Checkbook allows users

to navigate through up-to-date county expense

records with helpful tools like the ability to search,

sort, and filter through records to view dates,

departments, vendors, accounts, descriptions, and

amounts. The site also features colorful and easy to

read charts and graphs.

In conjunction with Online Checkbook, the Auditor is

focusing on annual reporting documents to

disseminate department goals, statistics, successes,

and other relevant information. In addition to the

Auditors Office specific annual reporting, the Auditors

Office is continuing its commitment to allow easy access to Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports on our

website which feature a countywide look at annual financials (currently reports going back to 1991 are easily

available to the public through our website).

From the Auditors homepage at www.wcauditor.org, click the Online Checkbook link.

In conjunction with Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Warren County Auditor offers the Online Checkbook. Searching, sorting, and viewing County expenses are a few clicks away for anyone with an internet connection.

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3. USE TECHNOLOGY TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND CUT COSTS

When it means increased productivity, lower costs, and better

service to the public, the Auditor is committed to updating

antiquated processes and going paperless. In recent years, the

Auditors Office and County IT Department set in place processes

that have greatly reduced the amount of paper needed for various

reports and documents. For example, at least once per triennial

update, the Auditors Office printed paper property record cards for

every account in the county. By digitizing these records, every time

a set of property record cards need to be created, the office now

saves over $1,800 in paper expenses (this does not include

additional savings that are realized when you factor in labor expense

in printing cards, labor expense in retrieving the cards from physical

filing cabinets, and printer ink/maintenance). The Auditors Office considers it an ongoing goal to carry this

success to other processes that can benefit from going paperless. In the last two years, the Auditors Office

made thousands of pages worth of reports and other documents paperless; consequently, they are on the

cutting edge in this regard.

In addition to converting paper documents and reports to digital records, the Auditors Office is making strides

in offering electronic services to the public through dog

licensing and deed transfers. In 2016, the Auditors Office

began accepting deeds electronically and saw a steady

increase throughout the year. In January, the office

processed one eDeed, but by the end of the year, the office

was processing close to fifty per month. It is an ongoing

goal to increase the volume of eDeeds and streamline the

process for the public as well as the Auditors staff.

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Future Goals

4. UPDATE ACCOUNTING & PAYROLL SOFTWARE

The Auditors Office assessed various systems that are due for updates or replacements and determined that the most

important system to address is Warren Countys accounting & payroll software. The Auditor initiated a thorough

process of vetting companies that could deliver the best product to meet all of the Countys needs. It is a major goal of

the Auditor to create additional value long-term by streamlining accounting and payroll processes; updating the current

accounting & payroll system is the first step in achieving that goal.

5. MAKE PROPERTY SPLITS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC

When a property splits into smaller properties or smaller properties get combined with other properties, there is a great

deal of work that must be done by different specialists in the Auditors Office and these complexities can get very

confusing for the public. A great deal of time is spent assisting the public with splits and a great deal of time is spent

processing these splits. The frequency of splits has increased by over 200% since 2012. For that reason, the Auditor

feels that this is an area of great opportunity for improvement in making splits a more streamlined process that can be

more easily understood by the public.

Staffing Updates

Diane Gray, Director of Financial Operations, hired September 26, 2016. Diane worked for the Auditor of the State of Ohios office for 18 years prior to coming to Warren County. Diane is a graduate of Wright State University and currently lives in Franklin.

Bev Wooley, Director of Real Estate, promoted in 2016. Bev grew up in Lebanon and graduated from Lebanon High School in 1982. Bev worked in management and was owner/operator of a custom woodworking business before coming to the Auditors Office in 2000. Prior to the 2016 promotion, Bev worked in Licensing and later Budgets & Settlements.

Nicci Cepin, Deputy in Accounting & Payroll, hired June 6, 2016. Nicci came to the Auditors office with close to nine years of service with the County. She started as a Billing Clerk in the Water & Sewer Dept in 2007, transitioned to Fiscal Coordinator at OhioMeansJobs WC in 2009, and then became the Business Manager at Children Services in 2014. The Auditor hired her to perform Inter-Governmental accounting and work on the CAFR. Prior to the County, she worked in staffing; specializing in placement, employment laws, payroll, workers compensation, and safety management. Rosie Crogan, Deputy in Real Estate, hired on October 28, 2015. Rosie started working part-time for the County at Armco Park in May 2015. Prior to working for the County, she was an office manager for 25 years for a group Ophthalmology practice in Youngstown, Ohio. Her husband of 20 years, Brian, two sons and daughter, moved to the area from Youngstown in 2009 because of Brians job. She is an avid sports fan and enjoys watching her kids play sports such as high school football, weight lifting, and soccer. Jodi Davis, Deputy in Accounting, hired October 24, 2016. Prior to the Auditors Office, Jodi was a personal banker at Fifth Third and devoted much of her professional life to customer service and working with numbers. She interned at the Water and Sewer department in 2014 and got married a little over a year ago to her high school sweetheart who is also a Warren County employee. They welcomed a baby girl to their family on August 20, 2016. Jodi is a business student at NKU and has coached cheerleading for the last 8 years. She was born in Alabama and is a huge Alabama football fan.

Additional questions or comments?

Please contact us:

Telephone Matt Nolan Cell Phone | 513.267.6843 Accounting & Payroll | 513.695.1101

Licensing | 513.695.1240 Real Estate | 513.695.1235

Weights & Measures | 513.695.2619

Fax Accounting & Payroll | 513.695.2606

Real Estate / Licensing | 513.695.2960

Location 406 Justice Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036

Website Home | www.wcauditor.org

Online Property Search | www.co.warren.oh.us/property_search/

eMail MNolan@wcauditor.org