Report No. 2009-70
July 2009
Complete Audit Report

The following findings were included in our audit report of Knox County.

The financial conditions of the General Revenue Fund and the Road and Bridge Fund have declined in the past several years and are anticipated to decline even further. While receipts have remained approximately the same, disbursements have increased steadily over the last several years. The County Commission indicated it is aware of the concern, but has not developed a formal plan to address the county's financial condition.

The county has not adopted formal policies and procedures over the sale of rock and culverts to the public and other governmental entities. As a result, rock requests and sales of culverts are not handled consistently and are not adequately documented. A bill of sale is not always prepared for each sale and sales tax is not collected on culvert sales. The County Clerk does not compare rock purchase statements to invoices and delivery tickets received by the road and bridge department which show actual rock received.

Controls over property tax additions and abatements are not adequate. No review and approval of change requests and/or court orders submitted by the County Assessor and comparisons to changes actually made to the property tax system by the County Collector are performed. In addition, the County Clerk does not prepare or verify the accuracy of the delinquent tax books.

The county does not have adequate procedures to account for fuel and mileage for some county vehicles. The road and bridge department does not maintain any type of fuel logs in the vehicles or equipment, nor does it maintain fuel inventory records or logs of fuel dispensed at the county's bulk fuel tanks. Mileage logs that include the purpose and destination of each trip and beginning and ending odometer readings are not maintained. The county does not report taxable benefits associated with county vehicles used for commuting purposes. In addition, the county is reimbursing one official for commuter mileage incurred on his personal vehicle and not reporting it is a taxable benefit.

The County Commission has not developed a written policy for the use of county cellular telephones. In addition, the county has allowed some individuals to include their personal cellular telephones on the county's plan and county funds were used to pay for one employee's personal cellular telephone bill for two months reviewed.

Actual disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for several county funds and the county has not disbursed monies from the Children's Trust Fund since the fund was created in 1990. The county's accounts payable process does not provide adequate controls to ensure goods and services have been received prior to payment. In addition, the county paid monies to various not-for-profit organizations without entering into written contracts or requiring documentation of how the monies were spent by the organizations.

Other findings in the audit report address the apportionment of railroad and utility taxes; capital asset records and procedures; payroll policies and procedures; computer controls; accounting controls and procedures in the Prosecuting Attorney's office, the Sheriff's office, and the County Clerk's office; and the Circuit Clerk's accrued costs procedures.

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