Auditor Logo Susan Montee

Report No. 2010-111
September 2010

Complete Audit Report


Findings in the audit of Scott County


Prosecuting Attorney Controls and Procedures
The Prosecuting Attorney's office does not maintain adequate records and controls are poor. As a result, there is little assurance monies were handled properly. Monthly lists of liabilities are not prepared and reconciled to the cash balance for the Restitution Account, and bad check restitution monies collected are not distributed on a timely basis. As a result, the account has unidentified monies that have not been properly distributed and victims and the county are deprived of the use of their monies. At our request, the Prosecuting Attorney's office prepared a liabilities list as of May 11, 2010, and the account had approximately $17,500 in unidentified funds. The Prosecuting Attorney's office cannot reconcile receipts to deposits because no complete record of receipts is maintained. Prenumbered receipt slips are not issued for some monies collected, partial payments are not recorded in the electronic accounting system, and a log or list of receipts is not maintained. The Prosecuting Attorney does not retain all records for bad check restitution or follow up on old outstanding checks for the Restitution Account.

Sales Taxes
Scott County has imposed two separate sales taxes under Section 67.505, RSMo. This section allows counties to impose a rate of 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 percent; however, it does not contain a provision for two sales taxes which together exceed the maximum allowed.

County Collector Controls and Procedures
Until March 2010, the County Collector did not prepare monthly lists of liabilities to reconcile to cash balances. As a result, distribution errors could be undetected and all monies collected have not been properly distributed to political subdivisions or the county. One password to the county's property tax system is shared between employees of the Collector's Office and the password is not periodically changed. As a result, the property tax system and data are vulnerable to unauthorized use, modification, or destruction.

Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
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