Land bank, Oxford to receive Ohio Auditor award for bookkeeping

The city of Oxford and the Butler County Land Reutilization Corporation will both once again receive the Auditor of State award.

Ohio Auditor David Yost’s office released this week the most recent audit reports, and the two Butler County entities are among the dozen-plus entities that will receive the Auditor of State Award, which is earned for having a “clean” audit report. The city of Oxford’s award is “with distinction,” according to the auditor’s office.

“It’s a combined effort from everyone in the finance department,” said Oxford Finance Director Joe Newlin. “It just shows the city, including City Council, takes their job very seriously, and we’re watching out for taxpayers money by making sure everything is above board.”

This latest award is one of several the city has received from multiple auditors over the years, he said.

This is the second consecutive Auditor of State Award for the Butler County Land Reutilization Corporation, commonly known as the county land bank.

Land bank Executive Director Mike McNamara said he’s “very pleased” to have the distinction again.

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“We have a great team especially with (Butler County Treasurer) Nancy Nix as the chair of the board,” he said. “It’s nice to have a CPA on your team.”

The land bank, among other things, helps eliminate blight and stabilize neighborhoods by taking title to troubled properties.

“There are a large number of transactions we have during the course of the year, and that includes everything from insurance to transfers to legal fees, and our reimbursement requests that have to be well documented,” he said. “There’s a large volume of information that the auditors review.”

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