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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
October 23, 2001
Report No. 2001-108
The
following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our
office of the Department of Public Safety, Missouri State Water Patrol.
As
of June 2001, the Missouri State Water Patrol (MSWP) maintained a fleet of 133
vehicles that were purchased at a cost of over $2.5 million.� The majority of these vehicles are trucks
assigned to water patrol officers and are primarily used to transport
boats.� The MSWP also maintains
approximately 185 boats that were purchased at a cost of over $2 million and
included in these boats were 4 canoes and 78 john boats.� The majority of the boats are assigned to
water patrol officers to patrol the state�s waterways.� The Missouri
State Water Patrol employed 124 employees, including 84 officers as of June
2001.�
Understanding
a need on the part of the MSWP to have in its possession a variety of boats and
vehicles to conduct its work, our review raised the concern that the patrol had
not determined whether it had more equipment than necessary.�
For
example, we noted the MSWP has more vehicles and boats than employees.� We also noted vehicles were assigned to
individuals who performed primarily administrative duties, and 2 boats costing
$33,000 each were purchased in July 2000 but had not been placed in operation
as of June 2001.
While procurement and
placement of vehicles and boats has in the past been largely based on what the
patrol claims to be its experience and knowledge, there is agreement that
establishing better methods of documentation in this area could prove useful.
We
recommended the MSWP perform a usage study to determine the optimum number of
boats and vehicles needed.� The report
also recommended the MSWP reconsider the benefits derived from assigning
vehicles to administrative personnel, surplus unneeded boats, and assign recently
purchased boats in a more timely manner.�
The
MSWP enforces laws and regulations on the state�s waterways and issues tickets
when violations are noted.� Our review
of the MSWP�s procedures indicated the following concerns:
The former MSWP Commissioner�s final paycheck included a
$10,004 payment for 288 hours of annual leave in addition to his regular
salary.� This payment was based on the
maximum amount of annual leave that could be accrued based on the prior Commissioner�s
length of service with the MSWP and as a Legislator.� In addition, the former Commissioner was credited with 823 hours
of unused sick leave for the calculation of his retirement benefit.� However, the prior Commissioner did not
complete timesheets nor did the MSWP maintain any other record to document
leave earned or taken.� Periodic
timesheets are necessary to properly document leave hours earned and used, as
well as any accrued leave balances.
The MSWP has designated officers in each district to be responsible for handling drug buy monies.� Generally, the drug buy monies are held in cash although one district has deposited drug buy monies into a bank account.� Drug buy monies are not used very often.� For example, General Headquarters had no activity relating to drug buy monies since May 1998 and had very little activity before then.� One district�s monthly reports indicated no activity going back to February 1995, while another district�s monthly reports indicated no activity going back to August 1996.� The other districts also indicated very little activity associated with the drug buy monies.� Having excessive amounts of monies on hand increases the risk of loss, misuse, or theft of the money.
