MARION, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—The mayor of Marion, along with at least two Marion City Council members, expressed their support for either the resignation or removal of Auditor Miranda Meginness after it was revealed that the IRS had imposed a fine of $196,972 on the city.
Mayor Scott Schertzer, Councilmen Ayers Ratliff, and Aaron Rollins all cited ongoing issues with the auditor’s office since Meginness took over from former auditor Robert Landon III in November 2021.
Landon had resigned in October 2021 amidst turmoil that included a $153,000 fine imposed by the IRS on the city for incorrectly making a payment of $1.28 million to the State of Ohio instead of the IRS.
Last week, it was discovered that the city had been fined $196,972.39 by the IRS for “failure to file and failure to furnish” form 1095-C for the fiscal year 2020, during Landon’s tenure.
Meginness submitted two ordinances to the city’s finance committee last week: one to pay the IRS fine and another to pay $20,000 to a law firm for assistance with appealing the fine.
Schertzer expressed his growing frustration with the performance of the auditor’s office under both Landon and Meginness.
He learned about the latest IRS fine from City Council Clerk Tarina Rose when he visited her office to inquire about the finance committee agenda for October 16, which was subsequently canceled.
During a meeting with Meginness in late September, Schertzer asked if there was anything he could do in his remaining three months in office before his term ends on December 31, 2023.
She assured him that everything was fine. However, Schertzer disagreed, stating that the auditor’s office has been facing issues for quite some time. He urged Meginness to resign if she did not want to do her job or learn how to do it.
Ratliff, who has been critical of both Landon and Meginness, emphasized the need for competent and experienced leadership in the auditor’s office. He hoped that Meginness would follow Landon’s example and resign.
Ratliff and Rollins, along with councilmen Jason Schaber and Jeff Gerritsen, supported a vote of no confidence in Meginness’ job performance.
The vote ended in a tie, with council members Joshua Feliciano, Karen Fosnaugh, Mike Neff, and Matthew Pollock voting against the proposal. Council President Todd Schneider cast the deciding vote in favor of Meginness, defeating the no-confidence effort.
Rollins believed that the city council had grounds to remove Meginness from office, as outlined in the Ohio Revised Code.
Crawford County Now will continue to cover this developing story.