Report No. 2011-96
November 2011
Complete Report
Findings in the audit of the Downtown (St. Louis) Contract License Office
Background
The Department of Revenue has appointed 183 contract agents to operate contract license offices. These offices issue driver licenses; titles for motor vehicles, trailers, and marine craft; and license plates. Contract agents are compensated through transaction-based processing fees. Under a state law which became effective in 2009, the State Auditor may audit contract license offices. This audit is one of the initial 10 contract license offices audited by the State Auditor.
Prepayment Void Transactions
The Downtown (St. Louis) contract license office did not maintain proper documentation of prepayment void transactions. Prepayment void transactions occur when a transaction is entered into the processing system but is voided before payment is made. Department of Revenue official procedures require license offices to document the reason for any void, obtain the customer's signature acknowledging the void, and have a supervisor and/or manager review and approve the void. The Downtown (St. Louis) contract license office lacked documentation of customer acknowledgment for 6 of 22 (27 percent) void transactions occurring between June 21 and June 22, 2011, and did not document the reason for voiding two other transactions.
Statutory Compliance
The Downtown (St. Louis) contract license office is not complying with statutory requirements to inquire whether customers wish to make a $1 donation to the Blindness Education, Screening, and Treatment Program Fund and the Organ Donor Program Fund, and to inform customers of the ability to be included in the organ donor registry and to consent to organ donation. An answer to these questions must be entered into the computer system to complete the transaction, so it appears staff frequently just entered "No." The Downtown (St. Louis) contract license office's donor registry enrollment average for the year ending June 30, 2011, was only 28 percent, compared to a statewide average of 37 percent.
In the areas audited, the overall performance of this entity was Good.*
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (Federal Stimulus)
The Downtown (St. Louis) contract license office did not receive any federal stimulus monies during the audited time period.
*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
