Report No. 2008-28
May 2008
Complete Audit Report

IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every four years in counties, such as Holt, that do not have a county auditor. In addition to a financial 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 the Missouri Constitution.

The county did not solicit proposals or request qualifications for its engineering services on federally funded bridge projects. The county has used the same engineering firm the last several years; however, the reasons this firm was selected were not documented. Engineering costs incurred for the various bridge projects during 2006 and 2005 totaled $158,564.

The county does not have written contracts with the various political subdivisions in the county to which they provide dispatching services and currently provides dispatching services, at no charge, for the Atchison Holt Ambulance District, Mound City Police Department, Oregon Police Department and four fire districts. The county maintains no data on the number of calls received and dispatched for each political subdivision or the total calls dispatched. The county needs to perform a cost analysis to determine if a fee should be charged for dispatching calls for the various political subdivisions.

Administrative transfers from the Special Road and Bridge Fund (SRBF) to the General Revenue Fund (GRF) were excessive and the county lacked support for how they were calculated. The cumulative excess transfers totaled approximately $23,400 as of December 31, 2006. In addition, transfers were made from the 911 Fund to the GRF and SRBF without supporting documentation.

Improvements are needed in the tracking of vehicle and fuel usage in the Road and Bridge Department. During the two years ended December 31, 2006, the county spent approximately $215,000 on fuel purchases for the Road and Bridge Department. Usage logs for road and bridge vehicles and equipment are not maintained, and fuel purchases and usage are not tracked or monitored.

County property records and physical inventory procedures for capital assets are not adequate. While a new Inventory Management Policy was adopted by the County Commission in 2005, the procedures required by this policy have not been followed.

Also included in the audit report are recommendations related to personnel policies and leave balances, apportionment of railroad and utility taxes, the Sheriff's accounting controls and procedures, and the Public Administrator's salary.

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