State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick begins regularly scheduled audit of Ste. Genevieve County

Just as Saint Genevieve played a role in protecting Paris from invading Huns, State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick wants to protect taxpayers in Ste. Genevieve County from governmental waste, fraud, and abuse. Fitzpatrick announced a regularly-scheduled audit of the southeast Missouri county officially began with an entrance meeting with county officials on Tuesday, May 13.

"Just like limestone and granite quarries were the bedrock of the county's economy throughout much of its history, efficient local government is a foundation the county can continue to grow and flourish on. Our performance audit will take a closer look at how county officials are managing government operations and, if necessary, give them helpful recommendations on how they can carve a path toward a more efficient government," said Auditor Fitzpatrick.

The most recent performance audit of Ste. Genevieve County was released by the State Auditor's Office in 2017. The audit identified an error that resulted in an additional $3,241 being collected in penalties for delinquent property tax payments, and found the county commission did not meet all requirements related to a required public hearing on the property tax rate. The report gave the county a rating of "good." More recently, Auditor Fitzpatrick released a closeout audit of the Ste. Genevieve County Collector that gave the office a rating of "good."

In 2024 the State Auditor's Office also released audits of two county offices. A report on the Ste. Genevieve County Public Administrator gave the office a rating of "poor" as it found the former administrator failed to accurately document $2,724 in disbursements for her wards, and neglected to maintain accurate bank reconciliations or consistently file annual settlements in a timely fashion. A closeout audit of the Ste. Genevieve County Collector's office gave the office a "good" rating and found the former Collector distributed $2,044 more in fees than collected and made disbursements throughout the year ended December 31, 2023 from the Tax Maintenance Fund that exceeded the budgeted amounts. 

Individuals may provide information confidentially for consideration during the audit of Ste. Genevieve 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.