YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2005-100

December 2005

The following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office of the Village of Uplands Park, Missouri. 

The Village of Uplands Park is in poor financial condition.  The cash balance of the village's funds has decreased significantly.  On March 1, 2003 the village's operating funds had a total cash balance of approximately $350,800.  The combined cash balance of the operating funds on February 28, 2005, was approximately $28,000.  Actual disbursements exceeded actual receipts by approximately $105,500 and $217,300 for the years ended February 28(29), 2005 and 2004 in the village's operating funds.  Inadequate procedures have inhibited the Board's ability to effectively monitor and manage the village and have resulted in, or contributed to these problems.

The board approved a deficit budget for the fiscal year end February 28, 2006, with budgeted disbursements for the General Fund to exceed budgeted receipts by approximately $22,150 contrary to state law.  Actual disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for fiscal year end February 28, 2005, by approximately $117,470 for the General Fund.  A significant portion of this overage was due to transfers to other funds which the village failed to budget.  Also, the Board of Trustees does not prepare and adopt annual budgets in compliance with state law and the village's monthly financial statement was incomplete and was not approved by the Board on a timely basis.

The balance of the Sewer Lateral Fund on the village's monthly financial statements is overstated as apparently not all disbursements have been applied to this fund.  Additionally, the village has not established a separate fund or accounting for state motor vehicle-related receipts, county road and bridge taxes, and Law Enforcement Training fees and does not monitor the use of these funds to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations..  Also, capital improvement sales tax monies are not always spent in accordance with state law.

The village does not have a formal bidding policy.  As a result, the decision of whether to solicit bids for a particular purchase is made on an item-by-item basis, and bids were not solicited for the trash or tax collection services.  The village has not entered into written contracts for various contracted services, including legal and accounting services.

Also included in the report are recommendations related to deposits, payroll, bonuses and donations, records, minutes and ordinances, a street maintenance plan, and the municipal court division.

Complete Audit Report