Financial Services and Payroll
What We Do
The County Auditor is the Chief Financial Officer of the County. The Auditor has the responsibility of accounting for millions of dollars received each year by more than thirty different departments. The Auditor is also responsible for issuing more than seventeen thousand warrants for the payment of all County obligations. The Auditor is responsible for distributing tax dollars to the various townships, villages, cities, libraries and school districts as well as other county agencies. The County Auditor maintains the official financial records of the county including receipts, disbursements and fund balances. The Auditor also distributes motor vehicle license fees, gasoline taxes, estate taxes, fines and local government funds to the various political subdivisions within the County.
As the Chief Financial Officer of the County, the Auditor is required by law to prepare the County’s Annual Financial Report. In Crawford County, an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) is prepared annually. This report is submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program. Crawford County has received the Certificate of Excellence each year since the County entered the program in 1989.
The County Auditor also has the responsibility as Paymaster for all County employees. In Crawford County more than five hundred employees are paid on a bi-weekly basis.
County Unclaimed Funds
The Crawford County Auditor’s Office maintains a listing of funds which are considered to be unclaimed and are unable to be disbursed to the party due to either a party’s failure to cash the checks within the allowable timeframe or the lack of a valid address. The County is required to maintain these funds per section 9.39 of the Ohio Revised Code, which states:
Text of Statute:
All public officials are liable for all public money received or collected by them or their subordinates under color of office. All money received or collected by a public official under color of office and not otherwise paid out according to law shall be paid into the treasury of the public office with which he is connected to the credit of a trust fund and shall be retained there until claimed by its lawful owner. If not claimed within a period of five years, the money shall revert to the general fund of the public office.
Examples of unclaimed funds include, but are not limited to: Vendor Payments, Child Support Payments, Lost Heir Accounts, Proceeds from Sheriff’s Sales, Restitution Payments, and Jury/Witness Fees.
The government agencies (State and County) that hold unclaimed funds make these lists available free of charge. There is no charge to anyone searching either of these websites, nor for processing a claim related to any of these unclaimed accounts.
You are urged to use caution if you are contacted by a “finder”, offering to assist you in obtaining unclaimed funds that might be due to you. There are such services which will actually locate and recover assets for you, but they charge a fee to recover them. You do not have to use a finder to file a claim. There are also scam artists who use unclaimed funds as a “hook” to defraud people. These scams usually consist of two varieties. One asks for an up-front fee to pay for the cost of recovering the funds. Never pay an up-front fee. The other common variety of fraud asks you to supply information (such as your social security number, bank account, or credit card information) to “help” locate your funds. This information is then used for identity theft. Never provide personal information to parties who contact you without being certain with whom you are dealing.
The current listing of county unclaimed funds can be reviewed by clicking on the button below
If you have any questions about County Unclaimed Funds or how to make a claim, you may contact the Auditor’s Office at 419-562-7941 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The State of Ohio also has a listing of unclaimed funds that you can search by clicking the button below.