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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
September 9, 1999
Report No. 99-73
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like Stone, 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 Stone County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials. The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
The county received fees from the various neighborhood improvement districts as reimbursement of administrative costs incurred by the county. However, the county did not adequately document the amount of actual or estimated costs incurred. In addition, the county withholds one percent from the special assessments paid by the property owners within the neighborhood improvement districts and deposits these withholdings into the Assessment Fund. The audit questioned the statutory authority for these withholdings.
The county's budgets and published financial statements did not include several funds, including the Neighborhood Improvement Districts Fund. In addition, actual expenditures exceeded budgeted amounts in several funds.
The Prosecuting Attorney's office did not resolve a cash shortage of $233 noted in the prior audit. In addition, the prosecuting attorney needs to improve its procedures regarding recording and depositing of receipts, bank reconciliations, liability listings, segregation of duties, and transmittal of fees to the county. Many of these concerns had been noted in the prior audit.
Also included in the audit are recommendations regarding road and bridge concerns, officials' salaries and personnel records, and general fixed asset records. The audit also suggested improvements in controls and procedures of the County Collector, County Assessor, Public Administrator, Health Center Board, and Emergency 911 Board.
