Report No. 2009-96
September 2009
Complete Audit Report

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

Many of the findings contained in this audit report were identified in previous state audit reports of Maries County.

Cost of living adjustments (COLA) were given to all elected officials; however, an increase in pay equal to or greater than the COLA was not given to some employees. The elected officials received a 2.5 percent salary increase for each of the 2 years ended December 31, 2008, and the county employees received a 30 cents per hour pay increase. No calculations of the 30 cents per hour increase were performed to ensure all employees received at least a 2.5 percent increase. In addition, documentation was not retained for a $3,000 reimbursement made to an Associate Commissioner for eligible medical deductible expenses.

The Sheriff's department controls over seized property and various accounting duties are in need of improvement. A complete log of evidence and seized property is not maintained, periodic physical inventories of seized property are not performed, and a court order on seized property was not followed. Procedures to identify month-end liabilities and reconcile to cash balances are not sufficient. Receipt slips for the regular and special civil accounts do not indicate the method of payment received, and the composition of receipts is not reconciled to the composition of deposits.

The county serves as the contract agent for the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) and receives fees for providing licensing services to the residents of the county. The license office controls over inventory and monies collected need improvement. The license office does not follow up on missing inventory items, or take adequate action to prevent further losses. For the 2 years ended December 31, 2008, the license office paid a total of $2,356 to the DOR for missing inventory items. Charges for bad checks, short deposits, and late deposits totaling $475 were also paid to the DOR for the 2 years ended December 31, 2008. The method of payment is not always accurately recorded and deposit slips do not indicate the amount of cash and checks deposited. The license office does not always remit county fees to the County Treasurer on a timely basis. Due to poor procedures and unexplained discrepancies between receipts and deposits, there is less assurance all monies were handled and accounted for properly.

Also included in the report were recommendations related to county budgetary procedures, capital assets, the property tax system, and Associate and Probate Division accounting controls and procedures.

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