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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
August 24, 2001
Report No. 2001-65
The
following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our
office of the Department of Economic Development, Administrative Services,
Economic Development Groups, and Missouri Community Service Commission.
The
Department of Economic Development may have potentially wasted or lost over
$775,400 in state funds and increased the state�s level of risk for the Urban
Enterprise Loan Program.� Each year the
department receives an appropriation of approximately $2 million to be used
equally in St. Louis and Kansas City under the Urban Enterprise Loan
Program.� The Department of Economic
Development contracts with local lending institutions to provide loans and
these contracts are specific regarding the maximum loan amount per business.� The following highlights the audit findings:
The Department of Economic Development did not adequately monitor Neighborhood
Assistance Program projects to ensure they were completed as approved.� Numerous program files did not contain the
required quarterly progress reports, final reports for completed projects, or
any evidence that site visits were made on projects.� Without this documentation there is little evidence or assurances
that the program projects exist or have been completed as approved.
In
1999, the Department of Economic
Development issued two Interim Financing Loans that exceeded the limits set by
the Consolidated Action Plan by a total of $740,000.� By issuing these loans under the Interim Financing Loan program,
the department is did not comply with the Consolidated Action Plan and could
put the Housing and Urban Development�s continued funding at risk.
The Missouri Community Service Commission holds required
quarterly commission and program director meetings throughout Missouri.� The commission paid all meal and lodging
costs associated with these meetings. The total lodging and meal costs of these
meetings in fiscal years 2000 and 1999 were approximately $20,000 and $37,000,
respectively.� It does not appear
necessary to incur some of the meal and lodging costs for a one-hour business
meeting or reception.� Our audit noted
that none of the expenditures reviewed included an accurate listing of
attendees for meal and lodging, and the number of individuals listed did not
agree to the number of rooms or meals provided.
In
fiscal years 2000 and 1999, the Department of Economic Development paid
$715,315 and $666,222, respectively, in travel expenses, and $66,880 and
$77,437, respectively, in department provided meal expenses.� We noted seventeen instances where invoices
were paid without adequate documentation.�
In eight instances department employees flew business class.� In two of these instances we were able to
determine that the business class tickets cost $9,096 while coach fare would
have cost $2,795.� There was no
documentation indicating any prior approval by a supervisor for incurring the
additional cost for the business class flights.
The
Department of Economic Development has not developed criteria for determining
who is allowed to access the Statewide Advantage for Missouri System (SAM II),
the purpose and level of the access, and who determines and grants the
access.� There are no policies for
documenting and reporting management authorization of new access, changes to
existing access, or removal of current access when an employee terminates or
transfers.
