YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2004-93
December 17, 2004
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Vernon, that do not have a county auditor. In addition to a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds, the State Auditor's statutory audit covers additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.
This audit of Vernon 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 budgets of the Special Road and Bridge Fund did not present a reasonable estimate of the fund's expenditures, and did not allow for proper monitoring and use of the budget as a management tool. During the audit period, the county transferred approximately $115,000 from the Special Road and Bridge Fund to the General Revenue Fund for administrative service fees. State law allows the County Commission to impose an administrative service fee based on a percentage of budgeted expenditures of the Special Road and Bridge Fund. Had more reasonable budget estimates or actual disbursements been used, the amounts transferred would have been approximately $34,000 less. The County Commission should review its budgeting procedures for the Special Road and Bridge Fund as well as reevaluate the amounts being transferred annually for the administrative service fee.
� The Sheriff should reconcile jail commissary purchases to amounts turned over to the county treasury to ensure such amounts accurately reflect the commissary purchases by the inmates. The Sheriff should also adopt policies and procedures to routinely follow up on old outstanding checks, adequately segregate accounting duties, deposit receipts daily, and maintain more accurate records of amounts billed and collected for board of prisoners.
The audit also includes recommendations regarding compensation for certain county officials and recommendations to improve accounting controls and procedures for the Prosecuting Attorney and Circuit Clerk.