YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2000-88
September 8, 2000
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like
Wayne, which do not have a county auditor.�
However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements,
the State Auditor will also perform a financial and compliance audit of various
county operating funds every two
years.� This voluntary service to
Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are
available and does not interfere with the State Auditor�s constitutional
responsibility of auditing state government.
Once
every four years, the State Auditor�s statutory audit will cover additional
areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials,� as required by Missouri�s Constitution.��
This
audit of Wayne County included additional areas of county operations, as well
as the elected county officials.� The
following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
A related audit finding noted the County Commission
has been distributing payments in lieu of tax of approximately $80,000 yearly
from the U.S. Department of Interior to the Special Road and Bridge Fund and
General Revenue Fund equally for several years.� These monies could be used for any government purpose.� Given the weak financial condition of the
General Revenue Fund, it is questionable why the County Commission elected to
distribute� any of these monies to the
Special Road and Bridge Fund.�
In its response to these findings, the County
Commission indicated that it was unaware that the federal payments were
unrestricted monies and that this oversight resulted in the Special Road and
Bridge Fund being credited with one half of these monies for at least eighteen
years.� The County Commission further
responded that it intended to use the amounts mistakenly credited to the
Special Road Bridge Fund to offset the amount owed by the General Revenue
Fund.� The audit emphasized that if the
County Commission believes it is justified to go back 18 years to correct these
problems, it should also consider other improper distributions which occurred
during those years.� Further, the County
Commission now needs to establish and document decisions regarding interfund
liabilities and begin operating those funds in a manner which ensures the
financial integrity of each fund in the future.
The
County Commission acted contrary to legal advice when it granted a mid-term
raise to the Associate Commissioners.�
The Prosecuting Attorney concluded that such �a mid-term salary increase
for Associate Commissioners would be unconstitutional and is therefore
prohibited�.� The County Commission said
they would abide by the results of a pending lawsuit in another county.
With
the exception of road and bridge employees, the County Commission has not
established written personnel policies regarding vacation and sick leave,
compensatory time, and overtime.��
Records of leave, overtime worked and compensatory time balances are not
centrally maintained.� Currently each
officeholder is responsible for individual office policies.�
Also
included in the audit are recommendations to improve county budgetary
procedures, depositary agreements and some expenditure policies. Contractual
procedures of the Senate Bill 40 Board also need improvement.� In addition, the audit recommended the
County Clerk maintain an account book with the County Collector to provide more
controls and help verify annual settlements.�