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YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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August 3, 2001
Report No. 2001-59
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like
Howard, 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 Howard County was a financial and
compliance audit of various county operating funds.� The following concerns were noted:
- The county does not
have adequate procedures in place to track federal awards for the
preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards.� The county�s schedule did not include
expenditures related to the majority of its federal grants.� In total, expenditures were understated
by approximately $117,000 and $250,000 for 2000 and 1999, respectively.�
- The county contracts
with the State Highway and Transportation Commission for bridge
replacement and rehabilitation under the Off-System Bridge Replacement and
Rehabilitation Program.� The county
incurred engineering costs of $20,828 for the BRO project.� There was no documentation that the
County Commission considered other engineering firms when procuring these
services.� The County Commission
indicated the engineering firm was chosen because of prior experience with
the firm on other county bridge projects.
- 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 1999 Howard County�s Associate County
Commissioners salaries were each increased approximately $5,440 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 $10,880 for the two years ended December
31, 2000, should be repaid.
- Formal budgets were
not prepared for some county funds and disbursements were made in excess
of approved budgets for various funds.�
Additionally, the county�s annual published financial statements
did not include the financial activity of some funds and presented budgeted
rather than actual data for some funds.
- As of May 15, 2001,
the County Clerk had not typed the minutes into the official record book
or submitted them to the County Commissioners for their approval since
January 2001.� Despite
recommendations in two previous audits, the County Commission has yet to
formalize a plan for the use or disposition of the Keller Building and
formally document its decision on returning the $285,000 property tax
windfall (created when property taxes were paid by taxpayers for a
hospital that was no longer in operation) to taxpayers via a future tax
reduction.
The
audit also includes some matters related to personnel policies, computer
issues, significant soda machine proceeds on hand, bridge project expenditures,
general fixed assets, and the health department, upon which the county should
consider and take appropriate corrective action.� Several of these issues had been noted in prior audits.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@mail.auditor.state.mo.us
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