COLUMBIANA — The city has earned an Auditor of State Award.

Dawn Baker of the Ohio Auditor’s Office presented the award to city council in June on behalf of Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber.

“This award represents the hard work of all the staff and employees who make every effort each day to attain accounting standards excellence,” she said. “We would like to recognize the Mayor, City Council and the director of finance that have done an outstanding job of watching every dollar.”

The Auditor of State’s Office performs roughly 4,200 audits statewide each year and those receiving the Auditor of State Award are in the top four to 10 percent of entities with completely clean audits, according to the auditor’s office.

“This city has the people and processes in place that understand fiscal accountability. I especially want to recognize Kevin Smith for his leadership and commitment to fiscal integrity,” Baker said of Columbiana’s Finance Director.

Mayor Rick Noel also commended Smith’s expertise, noting that Smith took it upon himself to conduct a study of neighboring electricity rates to be able to inform residents that Columbiana’s are actually the lowest in the area.

“We appreciate everything that he has done for the city. It’s been obvious since he has been here that we have great leadership,” Noel said.

He also credited City Manager Lance Willard and Deputy Assistant Manger and Deputy Zoning Inspector Bryce Miner for securing grants for various projects.

“We know they are very important to the infrastructure of this community,” Noel said.