City of New Carlisle honored with Auditor of State award; finance director praised

Joe Braden, director of regional liaisons for the Ohio Auditor of State, presented the Auditor of State award to the City of New Carlisle at the council meeting on March 16, citing the city’s clean audit and compliance with statutory reporting requirements.

Braden said the award recognizes entities that file timely financial reports, follow generally accepted accounting principles and have audit reports without findings for recovery, material citations, significant deficiencies or questioned costs. "This award represents the hard work of all the City of New Carlisle employees here, and the financial staff," he said, and singled out Finance Director Coleen Harris for "outstanding leadership" and "exceptional commitment to fiscal integrity."

Coleen Harris and city staff joined council for photographs after the presentation. Council members and the city manager noted the city’s reserve growth under Harris’s stewardship; the manager said the city started the year with roughly $2.7 million in reserves compared with much smaller balances in earlier years.

The presentation included a brief reading of the award criteria and congratulations from elected officials. The council did not take additional action related to the award during the meeting.

The Auditor of State award was presented during the regular council meeting; the city manager and finance staff will continue to oversee financial reporting and audit compliance ahead of future filings.