Report No. 2008-99
December 2008
Complete Audit Report
The following findings were included in our audit report on Bollinger County:
The General Revenue Fund remains in weak financial condition. The cash balance of the General Revenue Fund at December 31, 2007, was $56,818. To improve the financial situation, the county voters approved a new general purpose sales tax without a roll back provision; however, the legality of this sales tax is questionable.
The county voters have authorized under Section 67.547, RSMo, three separate sales tax levies totaling 1 1/8 percent, which appear to exceed the allowable statutory maximum. An Attorney General's Opinion states that a county cannot enact a sales tax that exceeds 1/2 percent under this state law. In addition, the county did not rollback the General Revenue property tax rate sufficiently as required by law.
Property tax system procedures and controls are not sufficient. The County Clerk does not maintain an account book with the County Collector. Neither the County Clerk nor the County Commission verify the County Collector's annual settlements or adequately review property tax additions and abatements.
The County Collector does not prepare monthly listings of liabilities, and as a result, liabilities are not reconciled to cash balances. A comparison of the February 28, 2008, reconciled bank balance to a listing of identified liabilities showed an unidentified balance of approximately $10,900 in the County Collector's account. The annual settlements filed for the years ended February 28, 2008 and 2007, contained errors in amounts reported, which resulted in the amount reported as distributions exceeding collections. In addition, the 2008 and 2007 settlements showed tax book differences of $2,057 and $102,356, respectively. The County Collector was not aware that a school district in the county qualified for Proposition C withholdings and did not perform the necessary calculations. As a result, the county's Assessment Fund and General Revenue Fund received less withholdings and commissions than allowed.
Centralized records of time sheets and vacation leave, sick leave, and compensatory time earned, taken, and accumulated are not maintained by the County Clerk. Time sheets are not prepared by some employees and some time sheets are not signed by a supervisor. The county has not established a written policy allowing the use of county vehicles for commuting purposes and requiring detailed logs which distinguish between business and personal usage. The Road and Bridge Supervisor uses a county vehicle for commuting and this benefit is not reported on his W-2 form. In addition, payments to sheriff's deputies serving as guards are not processed through the county's payroll system.
The county did not solicit bids or perform other price comparison procedures for some purchases. In addition, neither the county commission minutes nor the disbursement records contained adequate documentation of the county's efforts to compare prices (i.e., phone contacts or inquiries) or reasons to support sole source purchase determinations.
Archive Board minutes document motions made, but do not record who made or seconded the motion or votes taken. In addition, the board minutes are not signed by the Board Secretary or the Board President to attest to the completeness and accuracy. As a result of poor controls over receipts, the Archive Board did not realize that $203 in receipts were missing. Prenumbered receipt slips are not issued nor are monies consistently recorded on the ledger, the method of payment is not indicated on the ledger, and the composition of receipts is not reconciled to the composition of deposits and transmittals. Some monies received are not deposited intact or in a timely manner. In addition, some monies received are withheld from deposits to make purchases. Bank reconciliations are not performed and bank statements for December 2007 and December 2006 could not be located. In addition, the Archive Board's check register does not contain the necessary information, such as check numbers, to reconcile the bank account. The Archive Board does not maintain supporting documentation for some disbursements.
Also included in the report are recommendations related to written contracts, fuel and vehicle controls and procedures, and the Prosecuting Attorney's and Senate Bill 40's accounting controls and procedures.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov
