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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No.
2000-108
October 2, 2000
Some problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office in response to the request of petitioners from the City of Pine Lawn, Missouri.
The City of Pine Lawn has
failed to implement 25 of the 35 recommendations made in our prior audit that
covered the year ended June 30, 1994.�
Although the city indicated in that report that most of the recommendations
would be implemented, we have repeated many recommendations in the current
report.� These include violations of IRS
regulations, lack of bid documentation, inadequate controls over credit card
purchases, inadequate controls over seized and forfeited property, inadequate
collection of delinquent trash collection fees, the lack of ordinances
establishing the duties of various city employees, failure to publish financial
statements, budgets not approved on a timely basis, inadequate financial
reporting not provided for the board, inadequate property records, and
inadequate controls in the municipal court.
The city did not properly plan
for a construction project.� In January
1995, there was significant interest in possibly converting a donated school
building into a city community center.�
In October 1996, the city contracted with an architect to prepare a
feasibility study. In October 1997, the city entered into a second contract
with the architect,� which provided that
the architect would be compensated at the rate of 4.4 percent of total
construction costs.� The firm was also
supposed to help promote the bond issue to finance the complex.� In addition, the city did not have plans to
obtain additional funding for the project at the time they entered into the
second agreement.� The city did not
obtain at least three proposals from architectural firms,� which is required by state law, before
entering into the agreements.� The city
ultimately decided not to construct the center and the architect sued the city
for services provided on the second agreement.�
The city reached a settlement with the architect for $13,358 and
expended approximately $9,400 in legal fees related to this case.� The city spent significant amounts of city
monies on architectural plans for and promotion of a project that was
ultimately never started.�
The city charges citizens a
user fee for trash collection services;�
however, the monies received do not cover the cost of trash collection
services.� The city has not adequately
pursued delinquencies.� As of June 30,
1999, city records show approximately $656,000 in uncollected trash fees.�
The Board of Alderman
discussed items in closed session that are not allowed to be discussed under
the provisions of the Sunshine Law.� In
addition, the Board of Alderman discussed items in closed session that were not
included on the closed session agendas.�
The city�s purchasing
ordinance requires advertising for bids for all purchases of goods and services
in the amount of $5,000 or more.�
However, although the city indicated in our prior audit that they would
watch this more closely, bids or bid documentation was not retained for many
purchases.� Some items purchased without
documentation of bids and/or advertisements include home demolition projects,
gas purchases, and a 4x4 truck.
The city deposits seized money into a bank account.� This account contains a balance of $40,342
as of May 2000.� Some of the money has
been held for several years including approximately $20,000 that we commented
on in our prior audit report.� The
police department�s log of evidence and seized property is not adequate.� The log does not indicate the date the
property or evidence was seized or evidence taken or the disposition of the
item.�
The
Board of Aldermen does not receive enough information to monitor the budget and
evaluate the financial position of the city�s funds.� The city overspent the approved General Revenue budget by $10,616
and $10,470 for the years ended June 30, 1999 and June 30, 1998,
respectively.�
The
municipal court division has not implemented adequate procedures to follow up
on bonds held for more than one year.�
As of June 30, 1999, the balance of the city�s bond account included
bond receipts totaling $8,747 which have been held at least two years.
The
city has not disbursed the domestic violence fees collected to St. Louis County
for disbursement to a local domestic violence shelter.�
