Report No. 2007-89
December 2007

Complete Audit Report

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

The county has not established cash management procedures to ensure minimal time elapses between its receipt of federal project monies and the distribution of such monies to contractors. The county did not have procedures to ensure that vendors complied with federal grant guidelines. In addition, the county does not have adequate procedures in place to track federal awards for the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards.

The County Commission’s budget preparation procedures do not ensure that the budget documents reasonably reflect anticipated financial activity and cash balances. The ending cash balance was significantly underestimated for some county funds and actual disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for many funds.

Supporting documentation related to some expenditures was insufficient to ensure that amounts paid or allocated to various funds had a reasonable basis. Examples included transfers from the 911 Fund to the Law Enforcement Complex Fund and allocations of insurance premiums. The County Commission has not performed a cost/benefit analysis to determine if mileage reimbursements for personal vehicles are the most cost effective method of providing for employees' travel. Monitoring of county fuel purchases is not adequate to ensure fuel is properly used only in county vehicles.

The County Commission did not adequately document the process of selecting a site for the new juvenile justice center, efforts to determine that the lease/purchase price entered into and the cost of renovating the structure chosen were reasonable, or maintain adequate support for expenditures made to prepare the site for the county's use.

Payroll expenditures are not always properly supported by time sheets prepared and signed by employees, or reviewed and approved by supervisors. In addition, some county policies for sick and vacation leave, compensatory time, and commuting in county vehicles are not adequate or may need clarification. The County Clerk’s office does not maintain centralized records of leave or compensatory balances. Recordkeeping procedures varied among the other county offices. Some of the records maintained were not adequate and some leave accruals and balances were not always properly supported by time sheets or leave records.

The Board for the Care of the Handicapped is not adequately monitoring the use of monies provided to the various not-for-profit agencies. The annual funding agreements do not establish minimum levels of service necessary to earn the monies budgeted and the Board does not obtain periodic reports or other information from the agencies that would allow the Board to monitor that agency goals are being met. In addition, actual disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for 2005 and Board minutes are not consistently signed by the preparer, the Board President, or a designated member to attest to their completeness and accuracy.

Also included in the audit are recommendations related to collateral securities and county property records. The audit also suggests improvements in the procedures of the County Collector, Prosecuting Attorney, Public Administrator, Sheriff and Senior Citizen's Board.

Complete Audit Report