Report No. 2009-138
December 2009
Complete Audit Report
Findings in the audit of Ste. Genevieve County
Financial Condition
The financial condition of the General Revenue Fund has declined. General Revenue Fund disbursements have exceeded receipts in 7 of the last 10 years. The County Commission indicated it is aware of this concern, but has not developed a formal plan to address the financial condition. While the county has been working on increasing receipts, the County Commission has no specific plans to reduce disbursements.
Disbursements
The county's procedures related to written agreements and fuel use need improvement. The county did not enter into formal written agreements defining services to be provided and benefits to be received for the reoccurring services of microfilming records and quarry assessments. The county's procedures to account for fuel used by the Road and Bridge Department are lacking. Fuel usage logs are maintained to record fuel pumped; however, the county does not reconcile total fuel pumped to total fuel purchased.
Budgets
The county's procedures related to budget preparation and monitoring need improvement. Formal budgets were not prepared for some funds and budgets for the Mental Health Fund, Senior Citizens Fund, and Senate Bill 40 (SB40) Fund were not filed with the State Auditor's office as required. Approved disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts during the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007, for the Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund by approximately $53,600 and $47,000, respectively.
Closed Minutes
While minutes of closed meetings are required by state law, the county failed to maintain minutes of several closed meetings held by the County Commission.
Community Center
The Community Center's procedures related to timesheets and capital assets need improvement. Timesheets are not prepared by salaried employees of the Community Center. The Community Center’s procedures to account for property are not sufficient and property records are not accurate. Written authorization is not obtained from the Community Center Board for the disposition of capital assets. Disposition information such as dates, amounts, and means of disposal are not recorded by Community Center officials in capital asset records, and the Community Center does not perform a physical inventory.
Senate Bill 40 Board
The SB40 Board does not have adequate disbursement procedures for sheltered workshop and group home services. Not-for-profit (NFP) organizations submit an annual budget request and audit to the SB40 Board each year; however, the SB40 Board did not enter into formal written agreements defining services to be provided and benefits to be received for services. The SB40 Board has not developed an effective method of monitoring services provided by the NFPs. The approved amount is disbursed to the sheltered workshop at the beginning of the year, prior to receiving services.
Sheriff's Commissary
Sheriff commissary procedures related to profits, bank reconciliations, and liabilities need improvement. Profits earned on commissary and phone card sales are held in the Sheriff's Commissary Account and used to make jail purchases outside the control of the normal county disbursement process. Although commissary bank reconciliations are prepared, the Sheriff's department did not clearly document its investigation of unidentified differences, or correct the unidentified differences and reconciling items. A detailed liabilities list is not printed and retained to properly support the liabilities balance.
Associate and Probate Divisions and Circuit Clerk
The Associate and Probate Division accounting duties are not adequately segregated. Receipts are not deposited on a timely basis. Receipts are usually posted to the Justice Information System (JIS) as received; however, manual receipt slips may be issued when the computer system is not available. There is no independent review to ensure all manual receipt slips are properly entered into the JIS and subsequently deposited.
Other findings in the audit report relate to capital assets and the office of the Public Administrator.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov