YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
|
YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2004-43
June 1, 2004
IMPORTANT:
The Missouri State Auditor is required by Missouri law to conduct audits
only once every four years in counties, like Marion, which do not have a county
auditor. However, to assist such
counties in meeting federal audit requirements, the State Auditor will also
provide 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 it 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 Marion County included additional areas
of county operations, as well as the elected county officials. The following concerns were noted as part of
the audit:
·
The annual
budgets overestimated disbursements for various county funds and formal budgets
were not prepared for some county funds.
A written request for budgets was prepared by the County Clerk's office
and transmitted to all county officials; however, some officials chose not to
submit budgets in accordance with the request.
In addition the county's annual published financial statement did not
include the financial activity for some county funds.
·
The county does
not adequately track or report the federal assistance on the schedule of
expenditures of federal awards (SEFA).
·
Timecards are not
always signed by employees or their supervisors, timesheets for Sheriff's
department employees are not submitted to the County Clerk, and compensatory
time is accumulated at time and one half when 40 hours were not worked during
the week.
·
The Sheriff's
Jail Inmate Fund is not reconciled to the individual inmate account balances
and commissary profits, and inventory records of commissary items are not
maintained. The Sheriff's Department
does not issue receipt
slips for some monies received, indicate the
method of payment on some receipt slips, or maintain the petty cash fund on an
imprest basis.
·
The Associate
Circuit Division – Division II (Hannibal) does not transmit/deposit garnishment
and civil receipts intact on a timely basis and the method of payment is not
always indicated on the their receipt slips.
In addition, the Associate Division has not established procedures to
routinely follow up on outstanding checks.
·
The Associate
Circuit Division's – Division I (Palmyra) balance in the bond account included
cash bond receipts totaling more than $7,700 which have been held in excess of
one year. In addition, receipts were not
deposited on a timely basis, the method of payment was not always indicated on
their receipt slips, and checks and money orders received were not
restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt.
·
The Circuit Clerk
– Division II (Hannibal) does not have adequate procedures to monitor and
ensure monies in her various bank accounts are sufficiently
collateralized. In
addition, listings of liabilities (open items) were not prepared
for the fee account and the Circuit Clerk has not established procedures to
routinely follow up on outstanding checks.
· Actual disbursements exceeded the budgeted amounts in the Health Center Fund and the county's annual published financial statements did not include the financial activity for the Health Center. In addition, the Health Center does not have a formal emergency contingency plan for the computer systems, and has not formally negotiated arrangements for backup facilities in the event of a disaster.
·
The
E-911 Board has not established procedures to routinely follow up on
outstanding checks and has no formal policies and procedures for general fixed
assets. In addition, credit card
receipts are not reconciled to the monthly credit card bill, and the
Board awarded some employee bonuses. Also, the E-911 Board did not publish
annual financial statements.
Also included in
the audit are recommendations related to vehicle logs, and computer
controls. The audit also suggests
improvements to the procedures of the Assessor, the Sheriff, the Prosecuting
Attorney, the Circuit Clerk – Division I (Palmyra), the County Clerk, the
Collector, the Probate Division – District II (Hannibal), the Probate Division
– District I (Palmyra), the Highway Department, and the Ex-Officio Recorder.