Antwerp village finances on 'fiscal watch'

12/22/2006

Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery today placed Antwerp on fiscal watch after an analysis of the Paulding County village s finances determined the community met one of three conditions for such a declaration under Ohio law.

Antwerp, a community of about 1,700 people located 78 miles southwest of Toledo and about 20 miles east of Fort Wayne, Ind., is one of only 10 Ohio communities to receive such designation by law, according to the auditor s Web site.

The fiscal watch status makes the village eligible for technical support services from the state at no cost in order to prevent the community s financial situation from falling into an emergency situation.

In a letter dated today to village officials, Ms. Montgomery said an analysis of the village s 2005 year-end budget found that there are substantial deficit balances in Antwerp s funds one of three conditions under the Ohio Revised Code for which a village can be placed under fiscal watch.

The analysis found that Antwerp had an aggregate total of deficits in village fund balances of more than $85,800 as of Dec. 31, 2005. That figure exceeds receipts to those funds plus one-twelfth of the total of the general fund for last year and any other special funds that would legally be available for transfer to help balance the funds and the budget.

Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.