Auditor Fitzpatrick releases report documenting missing money in the Stone County Collector's Office

A new report released today by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick documents how a former employee in the Stone County Collector's Office failed to deposit more than $19,000 in county funds, and how $13,862 remains missing. The report, which gives the office a rating of "poor," also notes how lacking accounting controls and procedures in the office allowed the missing money to go undetected.

The audit was formally requested by the Stone County Commission after County Collector Anna Burk investigated the transactions of former employee Whitney Brown and presented her concerns to the commissioners. Burk became suspicious of Brown after a taxpayer presented a paid personal property tax receipt that was not recorded in the property tax system.

"I want to thank County Collector Burk and the Stone County Commission for bringing these issues to our attention and requesting this audit. We were able to confirm their suspicions that Whitney Brown was responsible for thousands of dollars in undeposited merchant license and property tax payments, and also found the Collector's Office needs to improve its procedures to ensure this type of activity can be quickly detected in the future," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "The good news for taxpayers is that county officials have already moved to put our recommendations into place, which will greatly reduce the risk of fraud and abuse going forward. I also hope officials will continue to work with law enforcement officials to prosecute Whitney Brown and to make sure she pays restitution to the county."

From May 1, 2023, through March 15, 2024, former employee Whitney Brown receipted money totaling at least $19,049 that was not deposited. She also collected an additional $475 that was not recorded or deposited, but taxpayers presented stamped tax statements to show proof of payment. The audit notes that if other similar situations exist, additional money may be missing. Brown repaid $4,782 in March 2024, after the County Collector confronted her about missing receipts. Additionally, 2 taxpayers reissued missing checks totaling $1,060 to the Collector. As a result, $13,682 remains missing.

The audit also found significant weaknesses in the accounting controls and procedures used by the Stone County Collector's Office. These weaknesses resulted in money collected that was not properly receipted, recorded, and deposited. Specifically, the report found the County Collector did not perform a supervisory review of detailed accounting and bank records, and did not reconcile property taxes receipted to property tax deposits prepared by the employees or reconcile merchant licenses issued to merchant license fees collected. As a result, she did not detect the missing money noted in the report. Additionally, the County Collector did not ensure staff issued receipt slips and recorded all money received, and did not ensure all money received was disbursed appropriately, nor did she perform adequate bank reconciliations or prepare a monthly list of liabilities.

The audit report makes numerous recommendations to improve the accounting controls and procedures in the office and the County Collector indicated she has already implemented new procedures based on the recommendations.

The complete audit report of the Stone County Collector's Office is available here.