City of Norwood Performance Audit Report

What do you know or think you know about Norwood’s finances? We’re broke, right? Well, of course, that is not right. As pointed out by Cincinnati Enquirer editorial writer Peter Bronson, our finances are mismanaged. You may have heard that we are in fiscal watch and the city will have to lay off 22 firemen and a bunch of police. The state auditor has made a bunch of recommendations for budget cuts, but according to at least one councilman, they are illegal.

We at Citizens for a Better Norwood, in keeping with our mission, have researched the issue, and what we are all hearing at council meetings and on the streets is more of a smoke screen than truth. The good news is we do not have to lay off 22 firemen to become fiscally sound. The bad news is our city officials don’t want you to know that. So that you are better informed, we are going to publish recommendations for the city from the Auditor of State’s performance audit several times each week. Then you can decide if the State wants the City to do illegal things or if the recommendations are just common sense that any efficiently run city would have done years ago. Please feel free to comment on the recommendations on this blog and discuss them with your friends, neighbors and family members. Norwood’s motto will either be "Do More for Less" or "Do Less for More". If you are for the second motto, then you need to vote for the tax levy the mayor said is coming.