Report No. 2009-122
November 2009
Complete Audit Report

The following findings were included in our audit report on the City of St. Louis, Department of Public Safety.

The Corrections Division procedures for the commissary need improvement. Monthly bank reconciliations and liability lists are not prepared for the commissary account. The bank reconciliations for July 2005 through February 2009 were not completed as of March 24, 2009. At our request, the Corrections Division prepared liabilities lists for March 31, 2009; however, the total of the lists was $322,714 less than the commissary account balance. In addition, the Correction Division does not make adequate efforts to review the status of old inmate accounts. At March 31, 2009, inmate accounts for 11,493 inmates on the liabilities list totaled $143,174. However, the city jails can only house 2,153 inmates. Some liabilities were for inmates who were released from the city jails as far back as 1999. The Abandoned Funds classification, totaling $59,921, represents inmate accounts that have been inactive for at least three years. Also, the Corrections Division has not established procedures to collect unpaid inmate balances. The agreement for commissary services does not specifically address all services provided by the contractor including collecting and recording monies and personal property received when inmates are arrested.

The Corrections Division does not adequately review invoices for compliance with contract terms prior to approving payments. For 5 of 34 expenditures reviewed, the amount paid exceeded the itemized contract amount. The Corrections Division approves payments for commissary and inmate necessity purchases without performing a review of invoices. The Building Division does not maintain adequate documentation of efforts to compare prices for emergency demolitions or prepare and approve change orders for demolitions.

Numerous employees in the Building Division collect and receive checks and money orders. Various sections of the Building Division record receipts on unnumbered receipt slips which do not always have duplicate copies. Licenses and electrical contractor permits issued are not reconciled to monies collected and amounts transmitted.

Monitoring procedures related to outstanding electrical permit fees are not adequate. The March 29, 2009, outstanding electrical permit fees list totaled over $81,000, with fees owed for electrical permits dating back to 2005. The Building Division does not ensure demolition costs are correctly billed to various property owners. As a result, 2 of 15 property owners tested were under billed by $2,200. The Building Division has not performed a cost benefit analysis to determine when a lien should be placed on property for unpaid building violations.

Meeting minutes for the Board of Appeals are not adequately detailed. Although the meeting minutes record decisions made, the minutes do not record who made or seconded the motion or the votes taken. In addition, the meeting minutes are not reviewed by the Board or signed by a Board member to attest to the completeness and accuracy.

The Director's Office does not have adequate procedures to ensure criminal cost billings to the state for incarceration costs are accurately prepared. For 5 of 11 cases reviewed, incarceration costs totaling approximately $12,300 did not appear to have been billed to the state. For two cases, incarceration costs totaling approximately $700 were overbilled to the state.

The Director's Office does not adequately monitor the burglar alarm contract. Although the Director's Office approves false alarm appeals and reviews the calculation of the amount retained by the burglar alarm contractor, the Department of Public Safety has not conducted a review of the contractor's accounting records nor has it requested the Internal Audit Section of the Comptroller's Office to conduct a review of the contractor to ensure the accuracy of the gross revenues reported to the department. In addition, the Director's Office has not performed an analysis to determine the most cost effective method to manage burglar alarm fees.

Records and monitoring procedures for the Department of Public Safety's vehicles are not sufficient. The department does not require vehicle usage logs be maintained for its vehicles. In addition, the Department of Public Safety does not regularly monitor its fleet to ensure vehicles are used efficiently and effectively. The Director of Public Safety did not report commuting mileage to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as reportable compensation.

The Excise Division does not maintain adequate records to account for the numerical sequence of summonses issued for violations of city and state liquor laws. A log is not maintained to account for the summonses assigned to officers or issued to violators, or the ultimate disposition of all summonses.

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