YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2006-24

April 2006

 

IMPORTANT:  The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Barry, that do not have a county auditor.  In addition to a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds, the State Auditor's statutory audit covers additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.

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This audit of Barry County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials.  The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:

 

• Bids were not always solicited and reasons for not bidding were not always documented for some purchases including jail lock system repairs, a computer voice stress analyzer, and computer hardware.  In addition, supporting documentation for fuel purchased by deputies was not always maintained and reconciled to credit card statements nor were fuel purchases compared to vehicle usage logs for propriety.  Further, the county overpaid a construction company $2,118 for bridge construction, and time records for sheriff department employees are not submitted to the County Clerk's office timely.

 

• Some receipts and disbursements were not properly classified in the county's budgets, including federal and state grant proceeds and transfers between county funds.  In addition, published financial statements did not contain sufficient detail, and disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for several funds.

 

• County Commission meeting minutes did not always include sufficient detail of matters discussed or the reasons behind actions taken, and minutes were not maintained for a closed session meeting of the County Commission in 2005.

 

• The county has not obtained a written agreement with the Shell Knob Senior Corporation for the monitoring of neighborhood improvement district funds collected to fund the repayment of a $178,000 county general obligation bond. 

 

• Adequate procedures are not in place to ensure reimbursement is requested for expenses related to drug patrols performed by the Sheriff's office in the Mark Twain National Forest.  Through a cooperative agreement the county was eligible to receive a maximum of $4,000 in federal reimbursements, but had only submitted requests totaling $879 as of September 30, 2005. After we brought this issue to the Sheriff's attention, an additional claim of $1,063 was submitted.

 

• Various weaknesses exist in the accounting controls and procedures of the Sheriff's office including the functions of cash receipting, depositing, disbursing and reconciling.  In addition, liabilities were not reconciled to cash balances for the Sheriff�s commissary bank account, and seized property records were not updated timely.  Further, the Sheriff's office is holding two bank accounts without statutory authority.   

 

• Weaknesses were noted in the accounting controls and procedures of the Circuit Clerk's office.  Accounting duties were not adequately segregated, an adequate supervisory review was not performed and documented, an accurate listing of open items was not maintained and reconciled to the related cash balance monthly, and procedures to follow up on old outstanding checks were not adequate.  In addition, the Circuit Clerk's office did not maintain adequate records of a petty cash fund.  

 

• The Associate Circuit Court did not investigate the differences between liabilities (open items) and cash balances timely, and some open items were not reviewed and disbursed timely.  Additionally, accounting duties for the civil division were not adequately segregated and manual receipt slips were not prenumbered and did not indicate the method of payment. 

 

�        The Public Administrator held checks received on the behalf of wards and did not deposit them for extended periods of time to ensure wards remained eligible for Medicaid benefits.  Additionally, Form 1099-MISC was not issued as required, and adequate supporting documentation was not always obtained for contract services.

 

• Deficiencies were noted in the internal control and accounting procedures used by the Juvenile Division.  Restitution receipts are not deposited timely, the composition of deposits is not reconciled to the composition of receipts, a record of liabilities (open items) is not maintained for restitution monies being held, and adequate procedures are not in place to follow up on old outstanding checks.  Additionally, the Juvenile Division paid individuals for providing various services without properly reporting the compensation for income tax purposes, and general capital asset records are inadequate.   

 

�        The Developmentally Disabled Board has accumulated a significant cash reserve, and has not documented how these funds will be spent.  Additionally, bank balances were not always sufficiently collateralized, and telephone votes were taken of board members without a quorum physically present. 

 

Also included in the audit are recommendations related to county officials bonds and capital asset records.  The audit also suggested improvements in the procedures of the County Assessor, Ex Officio Recorder of Deeds, Prosecuting Attorney, and Health Center.

 

Complete Audit Report

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Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov

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