MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Following a full financial assessment requested by Marion Mayor Bill Collins, , the Auditor of State has declared the City of Marion to be in a state of Fiscal Caution, as outlined under Section 118.025(A) of the Ohio Revised Code.
This decision follows the Auditor’s development of guidelines designed to identify fiscal practices and budgetary conditions that, if left unaddressed, could potentially lead to a fiscal watch or emergency for local governments, including municipalities, counties, and townships.
The Auditor’s guidelines for declaring fiscal caution consider several key factors, including:
1. Unauditable financial records.
2. Significant deficiencies and material weaknesses highlighted in financial audits.
3. Deficit fund balances.
4. A carryover fund balance of less than one month’s average expenditures for two consecutive years.
5. A failure to reconcile accounting journals and ledgers with treasury records.
Upon review of the audited financial statements for the City of Marion for the years 2020 and 2021, as well as fund financial data current as of October 31, 2025, several concerning fiscal conditions were identified:
– The December 31, 2021 audit revealed qualified opinions regarding the Governmental Activities and various funds—including the General Fund, Police Fund, and Fire Fund—stemming from insufficient audit evidence to support the end-of-year financial position.
– The city’s financial audits for 2020 and 2021 disclosed significant deficiencies and noncompliance with Ohio law, with reconciliation discrepancies noted. For instance, an unreconciled amount of $314,347 was reported for December 31, 2020, and by December 31, 2021, the discrepancy increased to $543,079.
– Currently, the city has 13 funds showing deficit fund balances totaling $8,877,996. Unfortunately, there are inadequate resources in the General Fund or any other transferrable funds to remedy this issue, raising further concerns about financial stability. Accuracy of these fund balances cannot be confirmed due to ongoing reconciliation issues.
– Additionally, the City of Marion has not reconciled its accounting journals and ledgers with bank records since December 31, 2019.
Given these findings, the Auditor of State has officially placed the City of Marion in a state of Fiscal Caution. A formal declaration has been issued, which will be sent to local officials, including Mayor Bill Collins and Council President Mary Stoneburner, among others.
Mayor Collins has ordered each department to cut their expenditures by ten percent. Department heads must have their cuts submitted to the Mayor by Wednesday at noon.