Auditor calls press conference on city financial status

Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis has called a press conference for Thursday morning to follow up on his recent report that the city is in a critical financial state.

"The purpose of the conference will be to follow up on my comments from Monday’s council meeting. I believe it is important to inform the public about the condition of our General Fund going into the second half of this year and what next year will look like with the prospect of changes in our fire and EMS operations," Lewis said.

Lewis reported to council on Monday that the financial outlook for the city is "not good," as the city has entered its fifth consecutive year of deficit spending, and that "our financial bucket is effectively empty."

Lewis said that he has called the press conference so that he can give the taxpayers information they need to know.

"I have run numbers going into what would be a comparative budget that we're currently operating on, and bringing them forward into the next year, and the profound impact at the loss of the revenues are going to have under the current conditions," Lewis said. "Rather than me telling seven or eight people in some form of finance committee meeting, I want to give this information directly to the press, so it will go directly to the people, so they will see what we will be faced with."

Lewis reported to council on Monday that because of the current budget situation, the fiscally responsible choice is for council to vote to contract with the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District for emergency services.