Report No. 2009-92
September 2009
Complete Audit Report
The following findings were included in our audit report of Polk County.
The amount of General Revenue (GR) Fund monies needed to support the Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) Fund has increased significantly since 2005. The county's 2009 budget projects a transfer of $755,760 from the GR Fund to the LEST Fund which is more than 10 times the amount transferred 4 years earlier. Law enforcement sales tax receipts have generally remained constant, but the county's spending has continued to increase. The increased spending is primarily due to increasing salary and fringe benefit costs and funding provided to the county Emergency 911 Board. If the LEST Fund continues to rely on increased funding from the General Revenue Fund, the County Commission could be faced with a deteriorating General Revenue Fund.
The Emergency 911 Board's dependency on funding from the Polk County LEST Fund, the City of Bolivar, and Citizens Memorial Hospital District has significantly increased in recent years. Telephone tax receipts used to fund the Emergency 911 Board have remained stagnant while salary and fringe benefit costs have increased. The Emergency 911 Board needs to consider alternative revenue sources and properly manage costs to prevent this trend from continuing. Weaknesses involving budgets, documentation of disbursements, banking services, meeting minutes, and capital asset records also need to be addressed by the Emergency 911 Board.
The county did not always solicit bids, maintain documentation of price comparison procedures, or adequately document why the lowest bid for road rock was not awarded. The county provides financial assistance to various organizations and political subdivisions within Polk County; however, the specific services to be provided are not defined through a written agreement. The County does not adequately monitor the use of some cellular phones, and a written policy regarding cellular phone usage is needed. Additionally, the County Commission distributed approximately $120,000 in county aid road trust and capital improvement sales tax monies without obtaining and reviewing any financial information from the Southwest and Bolivar Special Road Districts during the 2 years ending December 31, 2008. Also, vehicle usage logs are not maintained on county vehicles driven by the Emergency Management Director and four Sheriff Department employees.
The Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) has a substantial cash balance with no documented plans for its use. Our prior audit report recommended a formal plan be developed for accumulated funds; however, a plan was not prepared and the JDC's cash balance has since doubled. The 2009 budget reflects an estimated cash balance of $2.2 million at December 31, 2009.
The Senate Bill 40 Board does not adequately monitor disbursements to not-for profit (NFP) organizations it funds. Additionally, bids were not solicited for liability insurance costing approximately $1,300 annually paid to an insurance company owned by the Board President. Finally, meeting minutes were not always retained.
The County Clerk’s procedure for reviewing tax book additions and abatements needs improvement, and one password to the county's property tax system is shared between all employees of the Assessor's Office.
Duties of the Sheriff’s bookkeeper are not adequately segregated and reconciliation procedures for the jail commissary/inmate bank account need improvement. Additionally, meals served at the county jail are not tracked and the average meal costs are not periodically calculated.
Bank reconciliations have not been properly performed for the Prosecuting Attorney's bank account. Receipts and disbursements are entered into the bad check computerized accounting system; however, an accurate bank reconciliation is not generated from the system and manual reconciliations are not performed. Monies received are not deposited in a timely manner, and the numerical sequence of receipt/transaction numbers in the Prosecuting Attorney's computerized accounting system is not accounted for properly.
In the Public Administrator's office, receipts are not always deposited in a timely manner. A check for $6,075 was placed in a file and not deposited until we found the check, nine months after it was issued. Additionally, IRS reporting requirements were not complied with on payments made to a home health care provider.
The Juvenile Office contracts with an employee's spouse paying $26,000 annually for juvenile transportation services without soliciting bids or entering into a written agreement.
Other findings in the audit report relate to road and bridge employee timesheets, meeting minutes, Circuit Clerk's accounting controls and procedures, and capital asset records.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov