McDonald County needs some financial controls

State auditors apparently didn't like what they saw in their recent audit of the McDonald County government.  Regardless of who you elect or what you think of them, basic oversight and responsibility with taxpayer funds is a must.  In this report, it appears the issues extend across departments.  Issues cited include the sheriff's office, the emergency 911 board, commissioners (by means of not using proper procurement processes as well as issues with meetings and recorded minutes), and the collector's office.

Below is the Neosho Daily article.

A state audit of accounting practices in McDonald County government found a number of discrepancies.

The report was posted Tuesday on the state auditor’s Web site, www.auditor.mo.gov. In her report, Auditor Susan Montee noted a number of findings by her team, including:

• The former sheriff used accountable fees of nearly $13,000 to pay himself for mileage, and documentation of actual miles was not maintained;
• Other concerns in the sheriff’s department, including a separate bank account for the DARE program, maintained by a deputy and an inability to demonstrate how compensatory time and leave earned and taken was calculate or how the activity reported on timesheets related to the balances reported;
• The emergency 911 board didn’t follow the advice of legal counsel when it entered into loans from a local bank totaling $1.5 million. The loans were used to finance a new 911 center and to buy equipment;
• Improvement is needed in various accounting controls and procedures in the prosecuting attorney’s office. Montee said there was no assurance all receipts were deposited and accounted for properly;
• The county didn’t use a competitive procurement process when making purchases or obtaining professional services. Montee said the county bought real estate without obtaining an independent appraisal of the property, estimating the costs to demolish and dispose of a house on the property, or require an inspection of the property to be performed as part of the real estate contract;
• Improvement is needed in the county’s procedures and documentation related to both closed and regular meeting minutes. Additionally, county business was sometimes conducted without a quorum of the commissioners;
• Assessment data in the property tax system isn’t adequately restricted, and the county clerk and commissioners are not performing sufficient reviews of property tax system information and the collector’s monthly and annual reports, and;
• The county collector’s annual settlements were not accurate or complete, and accounting duties were not adequately segregated.

A complete audit report can be found at the auditor’s Web site, www.auditor.mo.gov.