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Commissioners approve $685,210.50 reimbursement to City of Lorain following forensic audits and court action
Summary
The board approved a settlement resolving a reimbursement dispute with the City of Lorain tied to fee distributions, authorizing $685,210.50 drawn from multiple county accounts.
The Lorain County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 11 approved a settlement and release in Case No. 23CV210434 requiring the county to reimburse the City of Lorain $685,210.50 for an overpayment of fees that occurred between Oct. 1, 2013, and Dec. 30, 2018.
County staff and the commissioners said the payment follows forensic audits conducted by both the city and the county auditor’s office and a court complaint and order. A county staff member described the settlement as “nothing other than a money shuffle,” explaining that the county will allocate the payment across multiple accounts — including the General Fund, MVGT and Law Library — according to the percentage distributions used when the City of Lorain remitted fees to the county.
Commissioners discussed that records for some years were incomplete, which contributed to the need for forensic review. County staff said that, where records were missing, auditors applied forensic methods to determine the appropriate reimbursement amounts. Commissioners noted the importance of the City of Lorain reimbursing any state obligations that are part of the underlying fee distribution and said the county would act if state monies were not returned as required by the court order.
During discussion a commissioner characterized the situation as embarrassing given the dollar amount and duration of the discrepancy; the board approved the settlement unanimously. County staff said the reimbursement will be paid from the specified county accounts so the cost is shared across the funds that originally received the fees.
The board recorded the settlement in open session and directed county finance staff to distribute funds per the audit calculations and to report back with accounting of the allocation.
