Wood County Auditor Matthew Oestreich has announce that Wood County received the Auditor of State Award with Distinction, an award for excellence in financial reporting for the fiscal year 2022.

Lori Brodie, regional liaison to the Ohio Auditor of State, presented the award to Oestreich and his staff at Thursday’s Wood County Commissioners meeting.

“It is a pretty big honor,” she said.

The last time the county earned the award was in 2013.

Only about 8% of 6,000 state entities receive a clean audit and only 3%-5% earn distinction, Brodie said.

“We appreciate all the departments working with us on this,” Oestreich said. “(We) have to compile all the information, but the first part of compiling it is obtaining it all.”

As listed on the Auditor of State website, to receive the award, entities must file financial reports with the Auditor of State’s Office by the statutory due date, and audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, Uniform Guidance (Single Audit) findings or questioned costs;

The entity’s management letter contains no comments related to:

• Ethics referrals

• Questioned costs less than the threshold per the Uniform Guidance

• Lack of timely report submission

• Bank reconciliation issues

• Failure to obtain a timely Single Audit in accordance with Uniform Guidance

• Findings for recovery less than $500

• Public meetings or public records issues

• The entity has no other financial or other concerns