In the latest bout of financial reckoning, fiscal officers from Crosby Township have found themselves on the hook for a bill amounting to over $54,600 in findings for recovery. According to an Ohio Auditor of State published today, the Ohio Auditor's office slapped this charge for penalties and fees that accrued thanks to late tax and assorted payments.
The former Fiscal Officer, Robert Bibbo, faces a charge of $30,285, while the current officer, Matthew Wallace, shoulders a slightly lesser burden of $24,327. Their bonding companies being marked "jointly and severally liable" for these amounts, which stem from a series of misdemeanors, including late withholdings from employee paychecks and delays in remitting state tax withholdings the inspection of Crosby Township's purse strings from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021, bringing these issues to light.
Digging deeper into the findings, the report parsed out instances where Bibbo owes $28,277, and Wallace is indebted to $19,843 for failing to handle federal taxes. In this web of financial mismanagement, the state tax withholdings were another snare, racking up $2,008 and $2,151 against Bibbo and Wallace, respectively. Wallace also faces a penalty of $1,550 for not properly remitting Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund withholdings and $783 for stumbles with the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System contributions, these totals weaving together to form a pattern of negligence.
Nevertheless, Wallace did not shy away from responding to the audit's conclusions, with his reactions logged within the comprehensive audit report—a document that remains available for public scrutiny on the Ohio Auditor's Office website.
