Report No. 2010-104
August 2010
Complete Audit Report

Findings in the audit of Clinton County

Financial Condition
Disbursements in the General Revenue (GR) and Special Road and Bridge (SRB) Funds exceeded receipts in 2008 and 2009, and the same is expected for 2010. As a result, the financial condition of these funds is weakening. The most significant increases in disbursements were for salaries, which increased approximately $135,000 from 2007 to 2008. As a result of insufficient space in the county jail, the GR Fund incurred increased costs of approximately $100,000 annually in 2008 and 2009 over 2007 to house county prisoners elsewhere. The SRB Fund also incurred unexpected costs in 2008 as a result of several significant weather events, including a tornado and an ice storm. Concerns with the accuracy of the budget estimates may also contribute to the county's financial condition. Receipts and disbursements were significantly overestimated in budget documents for the GR and SRB Funds.

County Collector's Procedures
Significant weaknesses exist in the County Collector's procedures. Theft or misuse of funds could go undetected for a significant amount of time because current procedures do not provide assurance against the loss or misuse of funds. At November 30, 2009, collector liabilities exceeded the reconciled cash balance by $10,865. The difference had not been identified by the County Collector because she does not prepare formal bank reconciliations in a timely manner and does not compare the reconciled bank account balances to existing liabilities. In addition, large amounts of cash collections were not deposited intact or in a timely manner. At November 30, 2009, the County Collector had more than $92,000 of undeposited cash. Some collections were not disbursed in a timely manner, the Collector has not established procedures to routinely follow up on outstanding checks, and the partial payment ledger was not kept up to date.

Property Tax System
The County Clerk and the County Commission do not provide adequate monitoring of property tax system activities. There is no independent and subsequent comparison of additions and abatements prepared by the County Assessor to actual changes to the property tax records or to amounts approved by the County Commission. The County Clerk does not maintain an account book or other records with the County Collector summarizing property tax charges, transactions, and changes. As a result, the County Collector's annual settlements are not adequately reviewed. In addition, the County Clerk does not prepare or verify the accuracy of the delinquent tax books.

Sheriff's Commissary Procedures
Adequate procedures are not in place to account for inmate monies collected by the Sheriff for commissary activity. Accounting duties are not adequately segregated. Sheriff's office employees did not maintain a cumulative book balance of commissary monies, including a list of liabilities, and did not reconcile accounting records to the bank account. In addition, commissary profits are not turned over to the county periodically.

Prosecuting Attorney's Procedures
The clerk who is responsible for all bad check receipting, recording, and disbursing functions also has the ability to post account adjustments to the system without documented independent approval of the adjustment. During 2009 and 2008, the Prosecuting Attorney made extra payments from the Prosecuting Attorney Bad Check Fund totaling $9,000 and $6,000, respectively, to supplement wages of his employees. These payments were not included in the county payroll records, were not reported on employee W-2 forms, and were not subject to proper withholdings.

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