YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
August 20, 1999
Report No. 99-55
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like Marion, which do not have a county auditor. However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements, the State Auditor will also perform a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds every two years. This voluntary service to Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are available and does not interfere with the State Auditor's constitutional responsibility of auditing state government.
Once every four years, the State Auditor's statutory audit will cover additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.
This audit of Marion County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials. The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
Several prior recommendations had not been implemented and weaknesses were again noted with the accounting controls and procedures of the Circuit Clerk, District 2 (Hannibal). Formal bank reconciliations were not prepared on a timely basis for the child support account, numerous checks were outstanding for more than a year in the fee account and child support account, and an open items listing was not prepared on a timely basis for the fee account. The Circuit Clerk's bank accounts were not always adequately covered by collateral securities.
The amount of collateral securities pledged by the county's depositary banks in January 1999 and January 1998, was insufficient by approximately $2.2 and $1.5 million, respectively, to cover monies in the custody of the County Treasurer and County Collector. The county needs to better monitor securities pledged to protect county bank balances.
The report also included recommendations for improvements related to bidding procedures, preparing county budgets, verification of back tax books, contractual agreements, and personnel policies and procedures.
Other comments in the report related to the Emergency Service (E-911) Board's practice of paying bonuses and the failure of the Associate Circuit Division, District 2 (Hannibal) to reconcile open items to the cash balance.