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), and as result, the county's SEFA contained several errors and omissions. Expenditures were understated by $176,858 and overstated by $66,404 for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively.
The county was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to repair and rebuild other political subdivisions' property, including Pierce City, the Barry/Lawrence County Library, and the Pierce City Senior Center and to clean up debris within the county, which resulted from tornado damages incurred in May 2003. Adequate supporting documentation was not retained to support how $52,500 of CDBG funds were expended or how $118,600 of the county's in-kind matching funds were provided. The county has not established cash management procedures to ensure minimal time elapses between its receipt of federal project monies and the distribution of such monies to subrecipients. In addition, reimbursement claims for some expenditures were not filed by the county in a timely manner, and the county made two duplicate payments and one overpayment which were subsequently caught by Pierce City.
The county paid a reserve officer $135,214 in wages and expenses to transport prisoners but has not performed a formal cost/benefit analysis to determine the reasonableness of the costs incurred. The county did not always solicit bids nor was bid documentation always retained for various purchases, and controls over fuel usage in the Common road departments and the Sheriff's office need improvement. The county does not have a formal written policy regarding cellular phone usage, and did not enter into written agreements with four cities to provide dispatching services.
The County Clerk made errors in calculating railroad and utility taxes distributed to the various school districts in Lawrence County.
Compensatory time earned is not being calculated in accordance with the county's personnel policy, and as a result, the county may be increasing its payroll liability. Some employees do not prepare a time sheet, and leave records maintained by the County Clerk's office are not always accurate.
Property tax system procedures and controls are not sufficient. Neither the County Clerk nor the County Commission adequately reviews the property tax additions and abatements, and the County Clerk does not maintain an account book with the County Collector. Inadequate password procedures make computer systems and data vulnerable to unauthorized use, modification or destruction.
Receipting and record keeping procedures over civil process fees and bonds collected in the Sheriff's office need improvement. The providing of meals to various jailers and dispatchers is not addressed in the county's personnel policy. The Sheriff's office has no formal follow-up procedures for unpaid prisoner board bills and does not track remaining amounts due. The civil process mileage rate charged by the Sheriff's office was not in compliance with state law, procedures over inmate personal monies are not adequate, and purchases of flowers were made from the Sheriff's Special Fund.
Monies received in the Prosecuting Attorney's office are not always deposited in a timely manner. In addition, procedures have not been adopted to ensure that bad check complaints are filed with the court in a timely manner, and the amount of bad check fees charged to the bad check writer can be reduced without obtaining written approval from the Prosecuting Attorney.
Annual/final settlements were not always filed in a timely manner by the Public Administrator, and adequate procedures were not in place to ensure client funds were adequately secured. In addition, an asset was reported as being sold on an annual settlement when it was still in possession of the ward.
The Senior Citizens Service Board does not require senior centers to document how funds provided are spent and did not always enter into written contracts for funding requests. Board minutes are not signed by the Board President or the Board Secretary, a record of votes cast is not documented, and board actions were not always documented in the minutes. In addition, a written agreement is not maintained with the depositary bank.
Accounting duties of the Board of Developmentally Disabled are not adequately segregated, invoices are not marked paid or otherwise cancelled prior to payment, and there was no documentation that the Director reviewed the time sheets of a part time employee.
Also included in the report are recommendations related to county property records and the health center. The audit also suggested improvements in the procedures of the County Collector, County Treasurer, Recorder of Deeds, County Clerk, and County Assessor.
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