North College Hill council adds street-reconstruction resolution to agenda; administrator addresses payroll reporting glitch

At its Dec. 2 meeting, the North College Hill City Council voted to add Resolution 18-24 — authorizing a contract for reconstruction of Oak (Oakill/Corkin) Drive and Baywood Lane — to the agenda for a first reading and directed the item to the Public Safety committee for further review ahead of a required December approval.

Miss Underwood moved to add the resolution and Mr Wilson seconded; the motion passed on a 5-0 roll-call vote. Staff told the council the work would be paid upfront by the city and reimbursed if the funding timeline requirements are met, and that the legislation must be passed by Dec. 31 to qualify for the reimbursements.

The council also spent significant time on finance and audit matters after introducing the resolution. Newly installed City Administrator Miss Duke Steen told the council she would provide supporting documents and that the administration had identified the cause of a perceived shortfall in police and fire pension reporting: different report windows and a vendor filing error. "We were right on target and nothing is actually wrong," Finance Director Miss Anderson said after reconciling reports pulled through different months, adding staff had contacted the pension office and corrected reporting differences.

Miss Duke Steen described the issue as a vendor (payroll/filing service) glitch that caused some line items to appear out of balance in the city’s accounting software; staff said the vendor has corrected filings and the city is aligning its software to the corrected data. Miss Anderson said the discrepancy stemmed from two people pulling reports that covered different months (August vs. September), which made totals appear inconsistent until the same time range was used.

On broader fiscal health, staff cited a recent Ohio Auditor indicator report showing positive results for 14 of 15 indicators for 2022–23; staff said the 2024 audit is not yet due. Administration and council members discussed audit cycles and noted that a jurisdiction must spend $750,000 in a calendar year to move from a two-year audit cycle to an annual audit cycle.

Resident Kathy Kon, speaking during public comment, urged the city to provide documentation of any modifications or audit findings in writing and asked whether the city is under investigation by the Ohio Auditor’s office and why the IRS visited Nov. 26. "I think it's a little premature to say everything is good to go," Kon said, asking that chiefs and department heads be on the record for such updates. Council members and staff responded that, to their knowledge, the city is not under an investigation by the auditor and that the pension and reporting discrepancies are now resolved or being reconciled.

Council business also included nominations and committee appointments: Miss Underwood was nominated and approved to serve on a soon-to-be-created Charter Review Commission; Miss Gaston was added to the Budget & Finance committee; and Mr Wilson was named the council’s representative to the North College Hill Chamber of Commerce. The council approved a small, amended appropriation (up to $250) from the council budget to repair a meeting-room television monitor. The council adjourned at the end of the meeting.

What happens next: Resolution 18-24 will go to the Public Safety committee for committee consideration and a first reading; the Budget & Finance committee will meet Dec. 9 to continue work on the 2025 proposed budget. Council members and administration said they will provide the modified 2025 budget and supporting documents to council members in advance of the Dec. 9 meeting.