08/03/2017
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway issued her office's monthly report on local government compliance with financial transparency laws. The report shows only 56% of local governments met basic financial transparency requirements outlined in state law.
"Any public body that uses public funds must be held accountable for the way that money is being spent," Auditor Galloway said. "That means following long-standing laws designed to allow citizens to see how their tax dollars are being managed. Too many local governments are failing to meet this basic transparency requirement."
Cities, towns and villages in Missouri are required to file annual financial reports with the State Auditor's Office within six months of the end of their fiscal year. Of the 399 local governments that were required to submit financial reports to the State Auditor's Office in June, 224 submitted completed reports on time, for a success rate of 56%. This marks a small improvement over the same reporting period last year, when just 53% of local governments complied.
During the 2017 legislative session Auditor Galloway worked with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to increase penalties for local governments who do not meet with transparency requirement. The new law goes into effect on Aug. 28, 2017.
This report also includes information on other local governments that submitted other related documents or late financial reports to the State Auditor's Office in June. Local governments are sorted by county in the report.
Reports received are searchable online. The complete report is available online here.
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