YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
September 2, 1999
Report No. 99-69
IMPORTANT: The Missouri State Auditor is required by Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like Madison, which do not have a county auditor. However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements, the State Auditor will also perform a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds every two years. This voluntary service to Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are available and does not interfere with the State Auditor's constitutional responsibility of auditing state government.
Once every four years, the State Auditor's statutory audit will cover additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.
This audit of Madison County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials. The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:
As similarly noted in the prior audit report, the financial condition of the county's General Revenue Fund remains weak. In addition to the declining cash balances, the county General Revenue Fund had liabilities of more than $172,000 at December 31, 1998.
Although noted in several prior audits, the Collector is still not performing statutory duties which would aid the county's financial condition. The County Collector has not made an attempt to properly withhold commissions which has resulted in lost revenue to the county.
Actual receipt and disbursement amounts were not correctly reported on the county budgets and published financial statements. In addition, formal budgets were not prepared for various county funds and actual disbursements exceeded budget amounts in several funds.
Similar concerns from the prior audit were again noted in the County Collector's procedures including inadequate reconciliations, the failure to properly compare collections to deposits, poor handling of partial payments, and incomplete annual settlements.
The Madison County Council Developmentally Disabled (MCCDD) incorrectly billed various agencies for services performed. The audit also noted concerns with MCCDD including lack of summary records for leave, bonuses paid to employees, inadequate bidding procedures, and incomplete fixed asset records.
Also included in the audit are recommendations to improve the county's bidding procedures, written agreements, property tax system, personnel procedures and records and vehicle records and to better monitor collateral securities pledged by county banks. Additional recommendations were made to improve the records and procedures of the Prosecuting Attorney and the Assessor, as $408 was unaccounted for in the Assessor's office.