COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio state auditors are questioning more than $17 million in spending from Eastern Gateway Community College during one of its final years of operation.

According to a press release from Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber, the total represents the entirety of federal student aid programs at the college where "pervasive deficiencies in recordkeeping" and "derelict accounting and controls" led to "rampant financial mismanagement of public resources."

Faber says school officials regularly spent money without verifying that the expenses were proper or allowed and borrowed money without fully disclosing details to lenders or grasping the financial implications of the debt.

Additionally, Faber says the college did not fully track student enrollment and attendance and could not verify that student aid was properly disbursed.

"This goes beyond sloppiness and honest mistakes. The public should be outraged," Faber said.

In all, the State Auditor's Office identified 44 findings, including questioned costs, material weaknesses and other issues in Eastern Gateway's finances from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

For example, Faber says the college's former chief financial officer and controller did not prepare a monthly reconciliation of all accounts, leading to an inaccurate accounting of college spending and resources.

Another finding is specifically connected to the college's Youngstown campus, where auditors say the former CEO appears not to have provided the college's bond counsel or board of trustees with an accurate appraisal of the parking garage in downtown Youngstown.

"As a result, college officials authorized issuance of $13.6 million in bonded debt that was used, in part, for the acquisition of a parking garage for which the cost of demolition exceeded the estimated land value," the release reads.

Auditors say that factors like this contributed to the college's eventual closure.

Other findings include:

- Documentation to support spending through federally funded financial aid, TRIO programming and adult education was incomplete, inconsistent and based on unreliable data systems. 

- The former chief financial officer failed to obtain a certificate of estimated resources or certify to the county auditor the total funds from all sources available for expenditures as required. 

- The college's former board of trustees failed to adopt a formal appropriations measure, meaning "all expenses the college's former chief finance officer and former controller made" violated state law.

The Auditor of State's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has an ongoing investigation underway regarding Eastern Gateway's operations. A search warrant was executed at Eastern Gateway's main Steubenville campus in January of 2024.

Findings for Recovery could show up in future audit reports.

You can read the full 153-page audit here.