YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
July 24, 2001
Report No. 2001-56
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like
Pulaski, 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 Pulaski County was a financial and
compliance audit of various county operating funds.
The county needs to improve its monitoring and controls
over federal grant expenditures.� The
county does not accurately report federal grant expenditures on its Schedule of
Expenditures of Federal Awards.� In
addition, $14,200 for the Emergency Shelter Grants Program and $17,630 for the
Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program have been questioned due to the
county not adequately monitoring� the
expenditure of the monies or complying with applicable federal regulations.
A state law, Section 50.333.13, RSMo, enacted in 1997, allowed salary commissions meeting in 1997 to provide mid-term salary increases for associate county commissioners elected in 1996 due to the fact that their terms were increased from two years to four.� Based on this law, in August 1997 Pulaski County�s Associate County Commissioners salaries were each increased approximately $5,800 yearly.
On May 15, 2001, the Missouri Supreme Court handed
down an opinion that holds that all raises given pursuant to this statute
section are unconstitutional.� Based on
the Supreme Court decision, the raises given to each of the Associate County
Commissioners, totaling approximately $19,000 for the period September 1, 1997
to December 31, 2000, should be repaid.�
The
audit also includes matters related to county tourism tax and property tax
collection procedures which the county should consider and take appropriate
corrective action.