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YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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September 13, 2002
Report No. 2002-90
IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by
Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties which do
not have a county auditor.� Taney County
became a first-class county with a County Auditor in 2001.� The county contracted with the State
Auditor's office to perform an audit of 2001 in addition to the statutory audit
of 2000.�
This
audit of Taney County included additional areas of county operations, as well
as the elected county officials.� The
following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
- The approved budgets
did not adequately project the anticipated financial condition of most
major county funds for either of the two years ended December 31,
2001.� The county budgeted
expenditures to use substantially all available resources.� In addition, the county does not
adequately monitor the balances of the various special revenue funds and the
transfers into these funds.
- 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 statute, in 1999 Taney County's Associate County Commissioners
salaries were each increased approximately $3,480 yearly, according to
information provided by the County Auditor.
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 $6,960 for the two years ended December
31, 2000, should be repaid.
- Bids were not
solicited for several items purchased by the county and elected officials.� Section 50.660 RSMO 2000, requires the
advertisement of bids for all purchases of $4,500 or more, from any one
person, firm, or corporation during any period of ninety days.
- The county paid
$71,500 to a programmer for his work to develop a property taxation
program which he originally contracted to do for $32,100.� The programmer never produced a final
product for the county.� The county
also paid the programmer an additional $20,000 to provide assistance in
addressing the county's Y2K concerns and other programming efforts. �Bids were not solicited for any of these
services.
- The Developmentally
Disabled Board has accumulated a significant cash balance without any
specific documented plans for its use.�
During the two years ended December 31, 2001 receipts exceeded
disbursements by $845,505, resulting in the cash balance of the Developmentally
Disabled Board Fund increasing from $1,071,222 at December 31, 1999 to
$1,916,727 at December 31, 2001. The board should determine its future
needs, and consider such information when setting future property tax
levies.
Also
included in the audit are recommendations to improve the accounting controls
and procedures for the Circuit Clerk and Ex Officio Recorder of Deeds,
Associate Circuit Court, and Sheriff.� The
audit also includes some matters related to budgets, county expenditures, contracts,
and general fixed assets 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@auditor.mo.gov