YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2000-33
May 12, 2000
The following findings were noted as a result of an audit conducted by our office of the General Assembly - House of Representatives.
Improvements were noted in the operations and procedures of the House of Representatives during the three years ended June 30, 1999. All the recommendations made in the previous audit of the House (covering the three years ended June 30, 1993) had been either fully or substantially implemented.
Current findings included:
· The personnel files of central staff employees did not contain any performance appraisals as required by House policy.
· There was not a policy regarding the employment and supervision of related parties. It was noted that a supervisory employee directly supervised two close relatives.
· During a review of the expenses accounts, we noted certain incidental or miscellaneous items claimed and reimbursed which may not follow guidelines established by the House. Also a limit has not been set on the number or dollar value that can be reimbursed for such things as memberships or subscriptions.
It appears the House policy needs to be more specific as to what incidental or miscellaneous items are reimbursable. In addition, the House should consider revising its policy to limit the number or amount of additional memberships and subscriptions that will be reimbursed to a representative.
In its responses to the related recommendations, the House indicated that it agrees performance appraisals lead to improvement in employee performance and are useful management tools. During the period covered by the audit, the House had discontinued the old "check-the-box" performance instrument and worked on developing a much improved appraisal instrument. All department directors, supervisors, and central staff have been evaluated under the new system. In addition, the House responded that new or revised related-party and expense account reimbursement policies have recently been adopted to address the concerns noted.