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Some On Council Still Pushing For Audits Before Budget Vote

Some Cincinnati Council members are still asking that audits of the Metropolitan Sewer District and the city's parks department be released before votes on the budget later this month.

City attorney Terrence Nestor told a council committee Wednesday that work on both reports is continuing.  Nestor is personally involved in the MSD review.

"I do think we are going to have a completed report relatively soon," Nestor said.  "Hopefully you will have it by mid-June.  I can't tell you exactly when you will get it because it is a work in progress.  It's not just in the law department; it's actually between all of the investigators who are contributing work product to that report."

Some council members say they need information in those audits before voting on the city budget.

Council member Kevin Flynn is worried about making funding decisions before all the facts are known, especially concerning MSD.

"There are findings that come out and are finally given to us that would indicate that there are further changes that are needed and further refinements to the procurement policies that are needed," Flynn said.  "And we've given up that power now because now we have to go back and undo what we've just done."

Right now Council is supposed to approve a budget on June 15th, but Flynn is suggesting that may have to be pushed back.  

But Vice Mayor David Mann said he is not unhappy with the audit process.

"I feel confident that the right thing is being done and I just don't feel this sense of disappointment that things aren't all coming to a head at the same time and those timing things are complicated and difficult to control sometimes," Mann said.

Both audits center on procurement or contracting practices.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.