Missouri State Auditor's Office - 2000-
 |
YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
|
Report No. 2000-89
September 12, 2000
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like
Christian, which do not have a county auditor.�
However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements,
the State Auditor will also perform a financial and compliance audit of various
county operating funds every two
years.� This voluntary service to
Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are
available and does not interfere with the State Auditor�s constitutional
responsibility of auditing state government.
Once
every four years, the State Auditor�s statutory audit will cover additional
areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials,� as required by Missouri�s Constitution.��
This
audit of Christian County was a financial and compliance audit of various
county operating funds.� The following
concerns were noted as part of the audit:
- The county does not
have adequate procedures to ensure budgets are prepared for all county
funds.� Budgets were not prepared
for various county funds for the years ended December 31, 1999 and 1998
resulting in a significant omission to the county�s financial
statements.� Receipts which were
not budgeted totaled $1.59 million and $1.25 million, while disbursements
which were not budgeted totaled $1.54 million and $1.98 million in 1999
and 1998, respectively.
- The county receives
funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) for highway
planning and construction.� During
the year ended December 31, 1998, approximately $355,000 was expended
directly by the county under this program.� One reimbursement claim for $111,147 was submitted to MODOT
in June 1998, however, reimbursement was not received by the county.
The county does not have follow-up procedures in place
to ensure requested funds are received by the county, and no other attempts
were made to follow up on this reimbursement request.�
- The county does not
have specific procedures in place to track federal assistance for
preparation of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA).� The county�s schedule contained
numerous errors and omissions.� The
county reported federal revenues but did not report any federal expenditures
on their schedule including $355,394 of the Highway and Planning and Construction
program expenditures.�
For the federal financial schedule to adequately
reflect the county�s federal financial assistance expenditures, it is necessary
that all federal financial expenditures be properly reported.�
- The county did not publish
a financial statement for the year ended December 31, 1999.� This is a significant violation of
state law, as the county financial statement is intended to inform the
public of the county�s financial activity on an annual basis.���
- The Sheriff�s Department
purchased a truck ($15,500) and a lie detector ($8,815) with federal
forfeiture proceeds without soliciting bids or proposals or retaining
documentation to support the solicitation of bids.
The
audit also includes some other matters upon which the county should consider
and take appropriate corrective action.
Complete
Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@mail.auditor.state.mo.us
Webmaster:
auditor@mail.auditor.state.mo.us
