04/24/2015
Missouri State Auditor John Watson released the audit of the Butler County Collector and Property Tax System today.
In the areas audited, the overall performance of this entity was Poor.
Background: On August 3, 2014, a vacancy occurred in the County Collector's office due to County Collector Brenda Fox's death. The Governor appointed M. Chris Michel as County Collector and he served from September 18, 2014, until March 2, 2015, at which time newly elected County Collector Emily Parks took office.
Access to the property tax system is not adequately restricted, voided transactions are not periodically reviewed or compared to supporting documentation, and personnel do not maintain adequate documentation to support voided transactions. The account book and annual disbursement reconciliation maintained by the County Clerk is not complete and accurate, and neither the County Clerk nor the County Commission adequately review or approve the County Collector's annual settlement. Amounts withheld from tax collections for the Assessment Fund were more than allowed by state law.
County Collector Fox billed drainage districts for preparing their tax books without statutory authority to do so and also charged commissions and fees in excess of those authorized by law. The County Collector does not have adequate procedures in place to ensure drainage district collections are fully disbursed and ensure disbursements are processed timely. Some personal commissions pertaining to the collection of drainage district taxes were improperly transmitted to the county.
The County Collector does not always issue receipt slips for partial payments timely, and does not ensure all monies received for partial payments from taxpayers who are unable to pay their tax bills in full are properly recorded and deposited. The County Collector does not prepare a list of liabilities for the main bank account, and accounting duties are not adequately segregated.
To read the full report, visit here.
