Auditing Plain City
The Ledger's review of Plain City's budgets, audits, debt and redevelopment money. Every story in the series, sorted by subject, with the figures the records show and links to the official documents.
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Auditing Plain City: what we're examining and why
The Ledger is reading Plain City's budgets, audits and council records. Here is what the city's fiscal 2025 audited financial statements and its fiscal 2027 budget document show.
Read the explainer →Key figures
- $4.3 millionGeneral fund balance at June 30, 2025Auditing Plain City: what we're examining and why →
- $5.6 millionGeneral fund expenditures in the FY2027 budget documentAuditing Plain City: what we're examining and why →
- 335 of 395Plain City's FY2026 fraud risk assessment scoreState Auditor found Plain City event payments went through personal payment apps →
- $99,930Storm drain fund operating loss, FY2025Plain City weighs a storm drain fee increase as the fund's fees trail its operating costs →
- $211,182Fund balance appropriated in FY2027 storm drain budgetPlain City weighs a storm drain fee increase as the fund's fees trail its operating costs →
- $121,634FY2025 Public Works overage cited by the auditorPlain City's fiscal 2025 audit flags street spending over budget →
Budgets, reserves and taxes
Plain City weighs a storm drain fee increase as the fund's fees trail its operating costs
Plain City's council scheduled an Oct. 15 hearing on raising its monthly storm water fee, citing an audit report. The fund's user fees have not covered its operating expenses in the last two audited years, and its fiscal 2027 budget document draws on fund balance.
Contracts and spending
No story in the series on this yet.
Audits and compliance
Plain City's fiscal 2025 audit flags street spending over budget
Plain City's auditor reported one state compliance finding for fiscal 2025: year-end engineering charges moved to road projects put the Public Works department $121,634 over budget, while the general fund as a whole finished $270,325 under.
State Auditor found Plain City event payments went through personal payment apps
A 2025 State Auditor review confirmed that some Plain City event and concession payments were collected through employees' or volunteers' personal payment-app accounts, with no receipt records. The auditor agreed the risk of significant loss was low. The city said it moved to a city-controlled account.