The Missouri Auditor’s office has issued several concerns its has with the Grundy County Public Administrator’s office, including situations involving the filing of settlements and monitoring bank account balances of wards.
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The Missouri Auditor’s office has issued several concerns its has with the Grundy County Public Administrator’s office, including situations involving the filing of settlements and monitoring bank account balances of wards.
An audit of Grundy County covering the two years ending Dec. 31, 1998 revealed that the public administrator’s office has “frequently been late” in filing annual settlements and is not adequately monitoring the bank account balances of wards. Numerous concerns existed with the methods of providing allowance payments to wards and auditors said that documentation pertaining to many disbursements was not adequate or was not retained. In addition, reimbursements to the public administrator himself were not supported by adequate documentation, the audit said.
In response to the concerns, Public Administrator Joe Trump said that settlements were slow and that he plans to make a greater effort in the future to make sure annual reports are turned in on a more timely fashion. He noted that while allowance payments have been discussed with the court, written authorization was not always obtained, adding that documentation is and will be used for all future disbursements to wards when they receive direct payments from the public administrator’s office. He also said that fees he receives in the future will be given to the county for accountability and payroll purposes.
The auditors recommended that the Associate Division of the Circuit Court monitor all future settlements and request additional documentation or explanation when necessary. The court should also re-evaluate all questionable transactions and supporting documentation provided, if any, and make a decision regarding whether to require any reimbursements to wards by the public administrator. The auditors also asked that the associate circuit judge establish procedures to adequately monitor the timely filing of annual settlements and establishment formal settlement review procedures to ensure that all problematic transactions are formally followed up with the public administrator. The judge was also asked to establish the frequency and amounts of spending monies to be provided to each ward and ensure the public administrator is adhering to the court’s orders.
It was noted by the associate court that since taking office on Jan. 1, Judge Steve Hudson is reviewing all current and active probate cases with the probate clerk, establishing and implementing polices and procedures to monitor and ensure annual settlements and reports being filed in a timely fashion. The court has reviewed and scrutinized each annual settlement filed with the court since Jan. 1 which, in following the procedure set forth in the audit report, has resulted in the removal of the Grundy County Public Administrator for one particular ward after concerns were expressed by both the judge and the prosecuting attorney.
The auditors also expressed concerns with overtime and compensatory time policies not addressing the current practices of the ambulance service, which they said were inconsistent with overtime determination methods utilized for other county employees. The county may be incurring more in overtime costs that necessary, the audit said.
The County Commission says it has already changed some procedures and a new formal policy will be developed to cover the overtime issues.
A third concern involved the handling of some property tax transactions by the Trenton Township Collector and the ex-officio county collector, resulting in the county apparently failing to collect $4,303 in back taxes.
The ex-officio county collector , Helen Frisbie, said that based on information received, the tax receipts were incorrectly marked and therefore back taxes were not collected when the properties involved were sold. If the incident had been brought to the attention of the office before April 1998, when the properties were sold, the collector said the back taxes could have been recovered.
There are also recommendations in the audit to improve accounting controls and procedures for the prosecuting attorney, the assessor, the health center board and the Families and Friends of the Developmentally Disabled Board. The audit also suggested improvements be made in the county’s budgetary and financial reporting procedures, property tax system controls and other payroll and salary commission procedures and documentation.
A copy of the audit is available by contacting the State Auditor’s office at PO Box 869, Jefferson City, MO 65102 or by calling 573-751-4213. The document can also be obtained by e-mail at [email protected].