09/27/2016
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released an audit of government finances and operations in McDonald County, located in the far southwest corner of Missouri. The report describes concerns in the county collector's office, where miscalculations resulted in incorrect amounts being withheld from city tax collections.
"The errors identified in the county collector's office are prime examples of why a system of oversight and review is necessary to ensure government runs efficiently and effectively," Auditor Galloway said. "If these system errors had been identified before the collections occurred, they could have been easily corrected, instead of creating additional work at both the county and city levels. This is true not just in the collector's office, but across all levels of government, and I am hopeful officials in McDonald County will take immediate corrective action to address the concerns identified in this audit."
In the report Auditor Galloway recommends the county improve procedures related to confiscated and seized property in the county sheriff's office. The audit found the list of seized property is not accurate or up to date. For example, the inventory list incorrectly showed $3,000 in seized cash that had been properly distributed for cases that had been resolved, along with some seized property that has been pending in the sheriff's inventory for up to 15 years without resolution. Due to the sensitive nature of some of the items that are routinely seized in association with a potential crime or criminal actions, it's necessary that these items be properly tracked, secured and stored.
The audit also includes recommendations to improve operations in the prosecuting attorney's office, as well as general recommendations related to electronic data security and fuel use.
The county received an overall performance rating of fair. The complete report is available online here.
