 |
YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
September 26, 2001
Report No. 2001-98
The
following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our
office of the Department of Economic Development, Division of Professional
Registration, Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, and
Professional Land Surveyors.
The
Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land
Surveyors will need to very closely monitor its revenues and expenditures in
fiscal year 2003 to avoid a cash flow shortage.� The board has a biennial license renewal cycle, with the largest
number of renewals in odd numbered years for engineers.� Our audit noted that the amount that
revenues exceed expenditures in the odd numbered years has not been sufficient
to cover the amount that expenditures exceed revenues in the even numbered
years.
During
June 1998, the board proposed a fee increase including an emergency amendment.
In August 1998, the board reduced the proposed renewal fee from $80 to $70
based upon the recommendation of the Division of Professional Registration�s
budget personnel and did not pursue the proposed emergency amendment based upon
the recommendation of the Department of Economic Development�s attorney.� It appears that had the emergency amendment
been allowed and the $10 fee reduction not occurred, the cash position of the
board�s fund would have been significantly improved and further fee increases
could have been avoided or at least delayed for several years.�
Because
the emergency amendment was not pursued and the proposed fee increase was
reduced by $10, the board again determined that funds would not be adequate and
proposed another fee increase.� This
proposal increased renewal license fees from $70 to $100 and also increased
other fees.� Our office noted that the
five-years of projected revenues used to calculate this fee increase did not
include certain fees.
The
in-house investigator does not review the contract investigator�s billings for
reasonableness.� Investigations
performed by consultants are much more costly than investigations performed by
the board�s employees.� The board
employs one investigator and contracts with one investigative firm.� The investigative firm completes
investigations that require both general investigative skills and specific
expertise in the professions of architects, engineers, and land surveyors.� For the year ended June 30, 2000, the board
paid the firm $95,515 for 3,039 hours or an average of $31 per hour, while the
cost of the in-house investigator was approximately $24 per hour.
