YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2006-57

September 2006

IMPORTANT:  The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Monroe, that do not have a county auditor. In addition to a financial audit of various county operating funds, the State Auditor's statutory audit covers additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.

The county's Enhanced 911 Fund is experiencing a declining financial condition.  Disbursements have exceeded receipts by a total of $74,167 during 2004 and 2005, leaving an ending balance of $7,536 at December 31, 2005.  The budget for 2006 indicates that disbursements will exceed receipts by an additional $5,400.  The Enhanced 911 Board also has outstanding liabilities at December 31, 2005, totaling $36,652 for a lease/purchase of computer equipment and past due phone service charges.  The board needs to consider alternatives of increasing receipts and/or reducing disbursements to improve the financial condition of the fund.

The Enhanced 911 Board's budgets did not include actual beginning balances and projected ending balances, and actual disbursements exceeded the budgeted amounts by $65,920 during 2004 and 2005.  A 911 dispatch employee was provided payroll advances, and the board spent $1,389 on certain trinkets which were given away at elementary and high schools and which do not appear necessary for 911 operations.  Minutes of open board meetings do not document the reasons for going into closed session, and the board did not document how some items discussed in closed session complied with the Sunshine Law.

The county made two land purchases, totaling $74,500, without obtaining independent appraisals.  In addition, the county does not have policies regarding the use of cellular phones and has not evaluated the cost of providing county-owed cellular phones versus reimbursing certain officials for the use of their personal phones.

The county's personnel and payroll procedures need to be improved to ensure actual time worked is recorded on employees' timesheets, county policy is followed for awarding overtime and compensatory time, employee leave balances are accurate, and the county's policy for compensating Sheriff's deputies complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The audit also included findings regarding budgets and collateral securities, the property tax system, and controls and procedures of the Public Administrator, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff, and Handicapped Board.

Complete Audit Report