New report from Auditor Fitzpatrick gives the Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator a rating of "poor"

A whistleblower complaint alleging fiscal mismanagement by the former Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator has led to an audit report released today by State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick that gives the office a rating of "poor." The new report details how the former administrator failed to accurately document $2,724 in disbursements for her wards, and neglected to maintain accurate bank reconciliations or consistently file annual settlements in a timely fashion.

"As the former public administrator was responsible for as many as 52 wards and more than three-quarters of a million dollars of their assets, it was important that she have proper internal controls in place to guard against mismanagement. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and our report points out the deficiencies that existed in an office that failed to operate in an efficient and accountable fashion," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "Thankfully the current public administrator has worked in good faith with our audit team to address these shortcomings and has already made significant progress to implement our recommendations."

The audit report focuses primarily on the period of time from January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022, which makes up the majority of the time that Robin Naeger served as Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator. As Public Administrator, she was responsible for the financial activity of approximately 44 wards with assets totaling approximately $514,000 as of January 1, 2021, and approximately 52 wards with assets totaling approximately $778,000 as of January 1, 2022.

The audit details how Naeger failed to retain adequate supporting documentation for disbursements, totaling $2,724, from 7 of 29 ward bank accounts that were reviewed. The former Public Administrator did not maintain supporting documentation for 20 questionable and unsupported disbursements from 6 ward bank accounts totaling $2,168. Thirteen of the disbursements, totaling $1,898, were made to Walmart and the remaining 7 disbursements, totaling $270, were made to other retail and online stores. For another ward, Naeger did not maintain supporting documentation for 3 reimbursements, totaling $263, that were made to Naeger herself, and another 3, totaling $293, made to the mother of the ward. Without adequate documentation, there was nothing to indicate what was purchased and to demonstrate the purchases were necessary for the wards.

The report also finds the former Public Administrator did not file annual settlements on time. A review of all 55 annual settlements filed for the period of January 1, 2021, through March 17, 2022, found Naeger did not file any by the due date. She filed 45 of the settlements between 30 and 182 days late, and filed the other 10 annual settlements less than 30 days after the due date. The audit report also notes that for 29 filings reviewed by the State Auditor's Office, Naeger had 63 bank reconciliations that were either missing or inaccurate out of 134 monthly reconciliations that should have been filed. A final finding in the report highlights the inadequate protections for the Public Administrator's computers and data.

The audit began as a result of a Whistleblower Hotline contact that alleged fiscal mismanagement within the Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator's office. The complaint led to an initial investigation conducted by the State Auditor's Office that determined further investigation was warranted. The SAO then notified the Ste. Genevieve County Commission in February 2023, that the office would conduct an audit of the Public Administrator.

A complete copy of the current audit of the Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator is available here.