Report No. 2011-122
December 2011
Complete Report
Findings in the audit of the Village of Riverview
Financial Condition, Reports, and Budgets
The General Fund is in poor financial condition, and the village's monthly financial reports and budgets need improvement. General Fund expenditures have exceeded receipts in each of the last 4 years, and the village has made transfers from restricted funds to cover shortages. During 2010, the village was charged overdraft fees 12 times. The Board of Trustees receives detailed financial reports each month, but some of these reports were not accurate, interfering with the Board's ability to make informed decisions about village operations. Village budgets did not contain all elements required by state law, and some were not accurate.
Expenditures
The village did not obtain bids for some purchases over $5,000 despite a village ordinance requiring it to do so. The village does not have adequate controls in place to ensure fuel purchases for law enforcement are reasonable. Officers use a fuel card to purchase fuel and note their odometer reading, but the village produced no documentation that fuel statements are reviewed or that discrepancies are investigated. The village awarded vehicle-repair work worth $2,900 to a business owned by two Board members, and the owner/Board members participated in the vote. The meeting minutes did not disclose the relationship, and simply referred to the business as a "private business." Although a state statute and a village ordinance both prohibit such a transaction unless the contract was competitively bid and the related entity was the lowest bidder, the village provided no documentation that it obtained bids for the work.
Restricted Funds
The village lacks adequate procedures to ensure restricted funds are spent only for intended purposes. The village allocated expenses to the Capital Improvements Fund without adequate supporting documentation or Board approval. The village transferred $240,905 from the Capital Improvements Fund to the General Fund to allocate expenses from 2008 and 2009, and began allocating some salaries and expenses to the Capital Improvements Fund each month. Under state law, these monies are only to be used for funding, operating, and maintaining capital improvements. In addition, the village does not separately account for motor vehicle-related fees and road and bridge taxes, so it cannot demonstrate compliance with constitutional and statutory restrictions on how these monies are spent. The village also made transfers from the Sewer Lateral Fund to the General Fund which appear excessive and lack supporting documentation.
Payroll Procedures and Personnel Policies
The village does not adequately segregate duties for payroll procedures, making it difficult to ensure payroll is processed accurately. If the village cannot segregate these duties, a supervisory or independent review should be conducted regularly. The Police Department submits time summaries based upon the work schedule rather than documentation of actual hours worked. Our review noted discrepancies between these time summaries and the computer aided dispatch reports which record the number of hours worked each day and are signed by the officers. The village allows employees to accumulate negative leave balances and take leave without submitting written leave requests, in violation of the village personnel policy. The village does not comply with its compensatory time policy, and neither its current practice nor its policy complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Village employees earn compensatory time for hours worked in excess of 8 hours per day and during weeks that they use compensatory time and leave, neither of which is required by federal law or village policy.
Sunshine Law
The village did not always document the reasons or votes for closing a meeting, and village policy does not clearly state how much citizens will be charged for duplication and research for a Sunshine request. Village personnel indicated that employee timecards and employee position status (full-time or part-time) are closed records, but these items are not addressed in the village policy and do not clearly qualify as closed records.
In the areas audited, the overall performance of this entity was Poor.*
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (Federal Stimulus)
The Village of Riverview was awarded a $17,890 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Local Solicitation grant, of which, $7,300 was received and spent during the year ended December 31, 2010, for software.
*The rating(s) cover only audited areas and do not reflect an opinion on the overall operation of the entity. Within that context, the rating scale indicates the following:
Excellent:
The audit results indicate this entity is very well managed. The report contains no findings. In addition, if applicable, prior recommendations have been implemented.
Good:
The audit results indicate this entity is well managed. The report contains few findings, and the entity has indicated most or all recommendations have already been, or will be, implemented. In addition, if applicable, many of the prior recommendations have been implemented.
Fair:
The audit results indicate this entity needs to improve operations in several areas. The report contains several findings, or one or more findings that require management's immediate attention, and/or the entity has indicated several recommendations will not be implemented. In addition, if applicable, several prior recommendations have not been implemented.
Poor:
The audit results indicate this entity needs to significantly improve operations. The report contains numerous findings that require management's immediate attention, and/or the entity has indicated most recommendations will not be implemented. In addition, if applicable, most prior recommendations have not been implemented.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov