Ohio State Auditor Reviewing Expenditures By Springfield City Officials
BY JEFF SKINNER
SPRINGFIELD - Recent information has been obtained by TOR indicating that obtuse expenditures from the Springfield City administration are currently being reviewed by the State Auditors West Region office after complaints were filed regarding unspecified international trips to France and the resignation of a member of the finance department resigned for ‘moral reasons.’
According to recent emails obtained by TOR, the Springfield City manager’s expenditures may be subject to further review from the State Auditors West Region office after it was made public that City Manager Bryan Heck recently charged Springfield tax payers for a trip to France to see an airshow. According to the expense request, Heck approved the expenditure himself without additional oversight.
The expense request indicates Heck covered airfare at $1570 and hotel stays totaling $2,180 with a $164 per day meal expense. Heck also expensed Ubers, Taxis, an Airshow badge and area metro fees. It has not been disclosed by the city government what official business Springfield Ohio city manager Bryan Heck would be conducting in a foreign nation or why this would need to be expensed. The report came in conjunction with a list of expenses from Heck from 2024 which include some rather high priced items being charged through Paypal and other online retailers.
Additional emails obtained indicate that the City has recently accepted the resignation of their assistant finance director, Tiffany Smith, whose letter of resignation indicates ‘moral and ethical’ reservations about the current administration.
the resignation is addressed to Katie Eviston, the current Director of Finance for the city of Springfield, who was appointed in 2023. While Tiffany's reservations are not specifically outlined in the resignation letter, it is evident the City of Springfield has, despite a complete flatlining of income tax in the city, seen significant salary increases over the last few years, with many higher level positions seeing magnitude increases in salaries every 12 months, including Heck, who received a $20,000 salary increase in just one year.
For a city whose average resident is currently buried under the weight of replacement migration and has tapped out their income tax revenue, it comes as a very odd move to be increasing salaries for city officials to this extent.
There is no indication at this stage if the State Auditor's office West Region will move any further into an investigation into any irregularities that may be found.
