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. 2005-71
September 2005
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Crawford, 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 Crawford County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials. The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
� While the county is optimistic regarding the future financial condition of the General Revenue Fund, officials need to ensure they closely monitor the financial activity of both the General Revenue Fund and the County Jail Project Fund. The passage of a one-half of one percent sales tax in April 2001 has provided additional funding for the construction and operation of a new county jail, and the General Revenue Fund has not had to subsidize jail operations as much as initially planned. As a result, monies have been available in the General Revenue Fund to decrease the county's outstanding debt. However, while the General Revenue Fund's cash balance increased to $181,126 at December 31, 2004, tax anticipation notes totaling $162,437 were still payable at December 31, 2004. In addition, jail operations for 2004 exceeded budgeted amounts by $74,504 indicating that while the General Revenue Fund may have additional monies available at the present time, the new jail is also costing more than estimated.
� Discrepancies totaling $1,304 were noted in the County Clerk's office between receipts and amounts transmitted to the County Treasurer. Receipt slips are not obtained from the County Treasurer when transmitting monies, a reconciliation between receipt slips written and amounts recorded in the receipt ledger is not performed, receipt slips were not issued for some monies received, some receipt slips were not posted to the receipts ledger, and monies were not transmitted to the County Treasurer intact. Receipts are not transmitted to the County Treasurer in a timely manner, checks are not restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt, and no inventory records are maintained for plat books.
� Professional appraisals were not obtained prior to real estate purchases, bids were not always solicited or advertised, and adequate documentation was not always obtained and reviewed.
� Missing monies were noted or detected in the Circuit Clerk's office, the County Collector's office, and the Senate Bill 40 Board. The county or board has worked with law enforcement authorities regarding any criminal prosecution and restitution of the missing monies.
� The County Commission and other applicable officials did not adequately monitor budget and actual disbursements, and as a result, actual disbursements exceeded the budgeted amounts in various funds.
� The county does not have adequate procedures in place to track federal awards for the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). Total federal expenditures were both understated and overstated for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively, as several federal grants were reported incorrectly or not included on the schedules. Without an accurate SEFA, federal financial activity may not be audited and reported in accordance with federal audit requirements which could result in future reductions of federal awards.
� Tax anticipation notes are not being repaid within one year of issuance. The county has not had the funds to completely pay off the tax anticipation notes in one year, rather, the notes have just been extended for longer time periods.
� General revenue property tax revenues have not been sufficiently reduced by 50 percent of sales tax revenues and as a result, reductions will need to be made in future years to the property tax levy to adjust for the $18,620 excess property taxes collected in prior years. While estimates have helped reduce the excess, calculations based on actual amounts are not performed.
� No procedures are performed by the Sheriff's office to follow up on outstanding checks, or to monitor and follow up on past due paper service fees. In addition, for the commissary account, accounting duties are not adequately segregated, the method of payment is not identified on all receipt slips, receipts are not deposited in a timely manner, bank reconciliations are not adequate, monthly listings of open items are not prepared, and checks have been outstanding for a considerable time.
� Actual disbursements of the Emergency 911 Board exceeded budgeted amounts, financial statements were not published, written authorization was not maintained to support the current position and pay for employees, and capital asset records were not maintained.
Also included in the audit were recommendations related to county expenditures, budgetary practices and financial statements, officials' salaries, bonding, payroll procedures, and general capital assets and vehicles. The audit also suggested improvements in the controls and procedures of the Prosecuting Attorney, Nursing Service, and Senior Citizens' Services Board.