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Report No. 2007-53 |
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every four years in counties, such as Grundy, 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 and health center do not have adequate procedures in place to track federal awards for the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditure of Federal Awards (SEFA). Total expenditures were overstated significantly for the two years ended December 31, 2006 and other expenditures related to some federal grants were not included on the schedule.
Budgets were not prepared for several county funds, the annual published financial statements did not include financial information for some county funds, and the County Commission and various other elected officials did not regularly monitor budget to actual data for funds they control, resulting in overspending of several county funds. In addition, the county has transferred approximately $32,400 more than allowed by state law for the General Revenue Fund's administrative service fee.
The county did not always solicit bids, or bid documentation was not always retained for various purchases. While the county indicated several of those items were sole source procurements, this was not documented. Payments totaling approximately $315,000 were made to townships and road districts without proper written contracts. In addition, while an annual financial report was submitted by most townships and road districts, these reports are not reviewed by the County Commission to ensure the CART monies are properly expended.
The County Clerk does not reconcile her account book with the County Collector, which would help ensure the accuracy of the annual settlement. The county also has not developed a formal emergency contingency plan for the computer system and has not formally negotiated arrangements for backup facilities in the event of a disaster.
Minutes of closed meetings held by the County Commission are not always taken. While numerous closed sessions were held, minutes were not taken for some of those meetings.
The county does not maintain documentation to support the calculation of the transfers made from the Ambulance Fund to the General Revenue Fund, which totaled $117,000 during the audit period. The county has also not sought a legal opinion or had significant discussions in recent years on how these transfers are calculated. The county has been placing the entire proceeds of a general sales tax, (approximately $430,000 annually), into the Ambulance Fund, and has transferred a portion of those monies to the General Revenue Fund. The ballot language places no restrictions on those monies, but documentation from a 1992 county commission meeting indicates that commissioners only ordered that an amount equal to 15% of budgeted expenditures be budgeted as an emergency reserve in the Ambulance Fund budget. The county has not been budgeting the Ambulance Fund in accordance with this order.
The county does not always bill for all allowable charges for ambulance services. For 5 of 20 cases tested, allowable charges totaling approximately $450 were not properly billed. In addition, a reconciliation of accounts receivable to billings and payments received is not performed, transmittals to the County Treasurer are not always made timely and some checks and money orders were not restrictively endorsed upon receipt.
Also included in the report were suggestions for improvements to county property records. The audit also suggested improvements in the procedures of the Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney, Circuit Clerk, and Health Center.
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Missouri State Auditor's Office moaudit@auditor.mo.gov |
