Fiscal Officer Amanda Spies is criticizing township trustees for speaking about her performance in office while she was on a recent vacation.
GOSHEN TOWNSHIP Fiscal Officer Amanda Spies is criticizing township trustees for speaking about her performance in office while she was on a recent vacation.
Her work became an issue after a letter from the office of state Auditor Dave Yost declared the township's books to be unauditable for two years.
"It sounds much worse than it actually is," Spies said Friday in a prepared statement. "It simply means that I, as the Fiscal Officer, have 90 days from the date of the letter (May 18th) to pull together all of the documents the State Auditors need to conduct their audit for the bi-annual audit period of 2016-2017."
She said the most important items that need to be prepared, Excel spreadsheets for each month in those years, will be ready by the end of June or soon thereafter.
Spies said she hired a Rea & Associates accountant, Mindee Johnson, to help generate the needed reports.
Trustees acted to hire Johnson at a special meeting on Tuesday. She is expected to be paid $120 an hour. Spies' annual salary, as specified in state law, is $18,717.
Spies said no special meeting was needed, as any necessary discussions or actions could have waited until the trustees' next scheduled meeting, at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the township office at 1607 state Route 39 NE.
She contends that she inherited an office in shambles when her term began on April 1, 2016, a year that started with an incorrect balance on the township's ledger from 2015.
"The prior Fiscal Officer left the office in complete disarray, even hiding large checks ($177,000) that needed deposited, bills, and other documents that needed filed with State agencies," Spies wrote. She said the check, from the county auditor, was found inside a stack of magazines that were nearly discarded.
The township brought in a unit of the state auditor's office, Local Government Services (LGS), to work on its books. The unit's work ended in December 2017, Spies said. She said an LGS supervisor said Spies' books balanced "to the penny."
Spies invited any Goshen Township resident to review the documents. She can be contacted by calling the township office at 330-364-2912.
"I would be more than happy to arrange a mutually convenient date and time to do so," she said. "I have nothing to hide from anyone."
She said the trustees' reaction to the letter from the state auditor's office, as reflected in two prior Times-Reporter articles, "is completely blown out of proportion and mostly incorrect.
"They don't have an inkling of what the State Auditor's letter means, and are misspeaking most inappropriately," she wrote.
In a story published Wednesday, Trustee William Miller said there is no indication that any money was misappropriated from the township’s approximate annual budget of $1 million.
Joseph Ginnetti, president of the three-member board of trustees, had little to say about Spies in a story published May 24.
“We have to work with her; the trustees are trying to work with her,” Ginnetti said.
Trustee Samuel Wise did not respond to The Times-Reporter's call.
"I will not be disrespected nor intimidated by Trustee Bill Miller, Trustee Joe Ginnetti, or Trustee Sam Wise," wrote Spies, a former Tuscarawas County prosecutor. "I don't think you know who you are playing ball with here, fellas."
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR