Report No. 2007-41
September 2007

Complete Audit Report

IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every four years in counties, such as Putnam, 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 the Missouri Constitution.

The county's procedures to track federal awards for the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) should be improved. Total federal expenditures were overstated by approximately $37,100 for 2006 and understated by approximately $20,000 for 2005.

The county did not follow statutory requirements when obtaining engineering services totaling $50,561 for certain bridge projects paid from federal funds. There is no documentation that the County Commission considered other engineering firms when procuring these services. State law requires the county to consider the qualifications and performance data of at least three firms when contracting for engineering services.

The county has not calculated the cost of non-emergency dispatching services provided by the Enhanced 911 Board. The county pays the 911 board $2,000 per month for providing non-emergency dispatching services for the Sheriff's department. To ensure the amount paid for dispatching services is reasonable and represents the true cost of the services, the county should work with the Enhanced 911 Board to establish some criteria for calculating or estimating the dispatching costs.

The county does not maintain records of compensatory time earned, taken, or accumulated for county employees. County officials indicated the Sheriff's department employees are the only ones to regularly earn compensatory time; however, there was no record of this leave maintained by either the County Clerk or the Sheriff's office.

Also included in the report are recommendations related to budget overspending and county property records. The audit also suggested improvements in the procedures of the Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney, and Senior Citizen Tax Board.

Complete Audit Report