07/15/2024 - Jefferson City, MO
Missouri
State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced today that his office has started a
regularly scheduled audit of Polk County, located in southwest Missouri. The
audit officially began with an entrance meeting with county officials on July
9, 2024.
The State Auditor's Office last released an audit of Polk
County in 2016. The report
gave the county a rating of "good" but identified a number of
concerns related to oversight and review procedures in the county collector's
office. The audit raised concerns about the lack
of review of the county collector's financial activities by the county clerk or
the county commission, which increases the risk of loss or misuse of funds. The
report also described errors that led to about $4,000 being mistakenly
distributed to the Tax Maintenance and County Employees' Retirement Funds
instead of the county's General Revenue Fund.
Individuals may provide confidential information for
consideration during the audit of Polk County to the State Auditor's
Whistleblower Hotline at 800-347-8597, by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.
