TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - When the city of Toledo found $8.2 million in their budget, there were many questions raised about where it came from.
Justice Andy Douglas presented what learned dissecting the city budget Thursday in a report to the budget committee. He says this is not new or extra money, just some of the funds simply weren't put where they were supposed to go.
"The transfer of money is a complicated thing, and I think we've figured it out. Nothing nefarious has happened and we will continue to serve the public with the amount of money that we take in," said Tom Waniewski, Vice Chair of the Toledo City Council Finance Committee.
Douglas went through the last 10 years of city finances. Hey says the $8.2 million was dealing with the debt service fund. He says no one mislead voters it happened because so many people were in and out of leadership roles and the proper communication didn't happen.
Now, city leaders feel hopeful that with this report from Justice Douglas they can get things back on track.
"I think it vindicated the city council people, the mayor and everyone else that other individuals are saying we didn't know where the money was our budget is in a mess and all of that so I think the taxpayers can go to sleep tonight very comfortable that we are overseeing the money," said Larry Sykes, the Chair of the Toledo City Council Finance Committee.
Justice Andy Douglas says the balance at the end of 2016 was actually$197,000, but keeping this from happening in the future, he advises a compliance officer is necessary.
"I'll tell you one thing, you will not have to worry about where somebody puts the money in a fund that it shouldn't be in there,"
Chairman Sykes said.
"I think we just need to ratchet that up a little bit and I think never ever take for gr anted a half a billion dollar budget that comes in books that thick because every penny saved and every penny spent is an important penny," Councilman Waniewski explained.
Chairman Sykes says the public deserves better than the way this issue was handled. He's calling for all political leaders to apologize if they used this issue to benefit their campaign.
"When you look at situations this may have looked like it was a bad situation," Chairman Sykes said. "But in actuality it was a good situation because it allowed us all to come together to find out exactly what happened."
They are hoping communication increases, and there is more clarification in the future.
"We need to not only know where money is transferred but if it is transferred there, so that's good," Chairman Sykes said.
