COLUMBUS — State Auditor Jim Petro said in a report Wednesday that the tiny central Ohio village of New Rome is essentially a speed trap and should be dissolved.

        The village of 60 residents encompasses just 0.3 miles but had annual revenue last year of $411,525, 92 percent of which comes from traffic fines or fees, Mr. Petro's audit said.

        The village spent $309,383 of its money to support a police force “whose primary purpose appears to be writing traffic tickets,” Mr. Petro said. The village provides few other services and contracts fire protection services with neighboring Prairie Township, he said.

        The village, on the far west side of Columbus, should schedule a vote of residents to dissolve itself and merge with Prairie Township, Mr. Petro said.

        In March, more than 100 demonstrators marched through New Rome to protest its ticketing practices.

        Mayor Jamie Mueller said Wednesday he favors eventually dissolving the village if it can clean up its image and make itself presentable to Prairie Township as an addition.

        Longtime Clerk-treasurer Connie Tucker, a Mueller critic, is opposed to dissolving the village.

        “I feel like we're doing everything we can to make it better,” Ms. Tucker said Wednesday.

        Past audits have found persistent accounting deficiencies, especially in the mayor's court, where money has disappeared four times in the past decade.

        Later this month, former New Rome Village Clerk Joyce Johnson will be sentenced after pleading guilty to stealing $5,600 from the mayor's court between Jan. 1, 1999, and May 31, 2001.

        Mr. Petro's audit said the village must repay its general fund $5,000 for a breath-test machine purchased by the police department from the mayor's court computer fund.

        The audit also said village officials transferred $59,936 from the general fund to a debt service fund without approval by Village Council.

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