Auditor Seal

YELLOW SHEET

Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill

 

June 2, 2003

Report No. 2003-48

The following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office of the Department of Public Safety, Missouri Veterans Commission, St. James Veterans' Home.


The Assistance League is a not-for-profit organization which raises private funds to benefit residents of the St. James Veterans' Home. Donations, as well as canteen and vending machine proceeds, are used for this purpose.The Assistance League purchases items to sell through the canteen and vending machines, coordinates and pays for events and activities for residents, and purchases items for common areas located in the facility.Some expenditures by the Assistance League, totaling $1,208, did not appear to benefit residents.These expenditures related to volunteer banquets and recognition awards,and employee softball team fees.Also, four expenditures, totaling $4,026, lacked the required approval by the majority of the board.

A review of 16 donations for which there was no donor specified purpose found that 15 were not credited to the general account.Rather, the supervisor of volunteer services would often designate these monies for specific projects or purchases using her own discretion.Documentation regarding these decisions was not adequate.

Some state employees at the facility spend a portion of their workweek performing job duties for the Assistance League.One state paid employee estimated approximately 50 percent of her workweek is spent performing various duties for the not-for-profit organization, including collecting donations, scheduling volunteers to work in thecanteen, and providing tours of the Veterans Home to outside organizations that contribute to the not-for-profit entity.The estimated annual salary cost (excluding fringe benefits) associated with the assistance league duties performed by these state employees is $27,000.Allowing state paid employees to perform duties associated with the Assistance League, a not-for-profit organization,appears to be a violation of the Missouri Constitution.

Also included in the audit are recommendations related to documentation of expenditures, payroll records and procedures, and fixed assets.

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Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov