ASHLAND — An Ohio Auditor of State regular audit of the Ashland County Board of Health found mismanagement of a board credit card between the beginning of 2023 and end of 2024.
During 2023 and 2024, the board failed to timely remit credit card payments by the necessary deadlines to Capital One on 14 separate occasions, according to the audit.
Those missed payments resulted in late fees and interest charges totaling $1,679.
“Late payment fees and interest charges incurred through gross negligence are illegal expenditures which do not serve a proper public purpose,” according to the audit.
The issue was identified as a “finding for recovery,” which means public funds were “misspent or property has been misappropriated,” according to the auditor’s website.
However, the report also noted the finding for recovery as repaid under audit, meaning the responsible party repaid the money before the final audit report was released.
Who was responsible?
Ashland County Health Department Director of Operations Jennifer Helbert was the responsible party in this case.
Helbert was appointed as director of operations for the board in 2023. One of her responsibilities in that role is monitoring expenditures and coordinating payment of the board’s credit card with the County Auditor’s Office, according to the report.
She paid the amount in full to the board on Dec. 12, 2025 which was taken from her gross pay to credit the board’s general fund, according to the audit.
Helbert clarified the 14 incidents were seven past due payments that resulted in the interest accrual and late fees, which the audit counted as a total of 14.
She took full responsibility for the mistake.
“I want the taxpayers to trust me. It’s very important for me that they know that I will do the right thing. And if it’s not an easy solution, I will work hard to get a solution,” Helbert said.
Why were payments missed?
A response from the board of health was included in the audit, which expressed support for Helbert and provided context behind why credit card payments were overlooked.
“The years 2023 and 2024 were extraordinary for public health agencies nationwide and presented unique operational challenges for the Ashland County Health Department,” the response read.
The response listed relocation of departmental offices, the process of achieving national public health accreditation, lingering COVID-19 response efforts and internal staffing challenges as reasons for the overlooked interest accrual on the board’s credit card.
“These circumstances created an unusually complex operating environment and placed exceptional demands on administrative and financial operations,” according to the audit.
Helbert said the transition to the new office required lots of extra purchases on the credit card for new office supplies and materials. The department also started operating the mobile clinic, which required further purchases for staff training and vehicle maintenance.
The board also cited “complicated processing timelines and coordination” with the Ashland County Auditor’s Office and issues with the United States Postal Service as important context.
“While these factors provide important context, the board understands that they do not negate the responsibility to ensure timely payments and proper financial oversight. The board affirms that Ms. Helbert acted in good faith and with professionalism throughout this period,” according to the audit.
Helbert implemented corrective actions since
The health department has since implemented corrective actions, including cross-training department staff on managing financial tasks, switching from a Capital One card to a credit card from a local institution and paying the credit card bill every two weeks in person.
“It didn’t take the audit finding for us to make that change. I had changed all of that in the beginning of 2025 because it was, ‘we are not moving forward.’ It is very important for me that was something that we recognized. We took care of it and we moved on,” Helbert said.
“We’ve done so many good things to change that and, moving forward, we know exactly what we what we need to do,” Helbert said.
The audit otherwise found the board of health’s use of public funds were found to be appropriately accounted for.
The audit also noted the office ran compliance tests on the board’s financial statements to determine if they were free from material misstatement.
“The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards,” the report read.
