Missouri State Auditor's Office - 2000-
 |
YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
|
Report No. 2000-62
July 27, 2000
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like
Benton, which do not have a county auditor.�
However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements,
the State Auditor will also perform a financial and compliance audit of various
county operating funds every two
years.� This voluntary service to
Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are
available and does not interfere with the State Auditor�s constitutional
responsibility of auditing state government.
Once
every four years, the State Auditor�s statutory audit will cover additional
areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials,� as required by Missouri�s Constitution.��
This
audit of Benton County included additional areas of county operations, as well
as the elected county officials.� The
following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
- The County Collector
has reported a deposit in transit of $1,358 as a reconciling item on bank
reconciliations since August 1998.�
The County Collector indicated the deposit was apparently lost;
however, follow up on the deposit had not taken place as of the end of our
fieldwork (April 6, 2000).� Any
part of the $1,358 not recovered will need to be repaid by the County Collector
to eliminate the shortage in the bank account.
- The County Collector
improperly distributed $6,757 received from the State Department of
Conservation as payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) to the General Revenue
Fund.� A similar improper
distribution of $6,177 in payments in lieu of taxes monies noted in our
prior audit was not corrected.� As
a result, various political subdivisions in the county are due
approximately $12,000 with an estimated 60 percent of this amount due to
local school districts.
- The county and Health
Center do not have procedures in place to track federal awards for the
preparation of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA).� The county�s schedule of expenditures
of federal awards contained numerous errors and omissions.� An accurate schedule of expenditures of
federal awards is necessary to ensure federal financial activity is
audited and reported in accordance with federal requirements.
Also
included in the audit are recommendations to improve the accounting� controls and procedures for the County
Collector, Circuit Clerk and Sheriff.�
The audit also suggested improvements be made in the county�s budgetary
and bidding procedures, as well as the use of written contracts.� Several of these issues have been noted in
prior audits.
Complete
Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@mail.auditor.state.mo.us
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