City management are to be commended for achieving excellence in financial reporting. This honorable distinction was awarded both by Ohio’s State Auditor Mary Taylor and by the Government Finance Officers Association of America (GFOAAC). Taylor’s enlightening award was called “Making Your Tax Dollar Count,” which suggests city officials are good stewards of taxpayer money. Finance Director Mark Bazelak said his office received his association’s highest form of recognition: “The Certificate of Achievement.”
It should not be overlooked that the impressive professional kudos came from those to whom our public officials report. Unfortunately, a citizen or taxpayer award was not among the kudos for their financial reporting.
If you are citizen of Xenia reading this, you also may have read the latest financial report posted on the City’s website. If you are not versed in accounting or finance, you probably had difficulty making sense of the data. Nevertheless, the report is available to Internet public of Xenia.
My question is this: Does not Xenia taxpayers deserve better?