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. 2004-41
May 26, 2004
The following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office of Blue Mound Special Road District, Polk County, Missouri.
The Blue Mound Special Road District (district) does not hold regular meetings to conduct business. Apparently the three road commissioners occasionally get together and drive the roads in the district, and during this time, they discuss road work and the financial situation of the district. However, there is no documentation of these discussions. The governing bodies of all political subdivisions in this state are required to conduct business in regular open meetings. State law provides that meetings of a special road district board shall be held at such time and place as agreed in writing or by order of a board officer.
The district appears to operate without any structure such as budgeting for anticipated expenditures and developing a maintenance plan for the roads. A complete and well-planned budget is necessary to meet statutory requirements, and provide a means to effectively monitor actual costs and revenues. Additionally, a road maintenance plan provides a means to continually and more effectively monitor and evaluate the progress made in the repair and maintenance of roads throughout the year.
The district's accounting records are solely handled by the district treasurer without any approval of expenditures or an independent review by the other commissioners.
The district selects vendors without soliciting bids from other vendors. The district lacked supporting documentation for some expenditures, and does not prepare IRS form 1099-MISC as required.