City officials defend responses to audit report

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

In early September the Missouri State Auditors office released a report on how about $39,000 of city funds were apparently misappropriated and on Feb. 7, the state released the results of a petition audit they were working on during the same time period.

"We all are pleased with the results. There were no violations of the law," Craig Hubler, city manager, told a near capacity crowd during Tuesday night's city council meeting.

Employee bonds and insurance cover the $30,000 to $50,000 that is missing, Hubler said.

"We've been working on improving security procedures," he said, referring to the conditions that allowed money to be taken without anyone noticing for more than a year.

Ron Chandler, city finance director, said that his department has developed a timeline to address these issues over the next year as well as others raised by the petition audit.

This timeline was presented to the city council in September and is updated regularly.

Chandler said that the city has changed the way deposits from the golf course and the pool are handled so that they are directly deposited in the bank instead of going to the city hall first. They also separate receipts into cash, checks and credit cards so that cash can no longer be substituted for checks -- which is how the September audit report says the $39,000 was taken.

In October the city hired a new billing clerk and finance clerk as well as instituting procedures to track cigarette and motel tax receipts on a daily and monthly basis.

"There are some state reports that we can use to double check tax payments," Chandler said.

One area the audit spotlighted was the difficulty in locating records of receipts and payments because they were not entered in the proper places.

Chandler said that as of November they had developed a standard set of terminology to make it easier to track ledger entries.

The city also began assessing a penalty on late motel tax payments, which is provided for in the motel tax legislation.

Over the next year the city will be looking at upgrading the software that handles utility billing, as well as, the accounting software. Administrators also plan to look at outsourcing the city's payroll.

Most recently, Chandler said, the finance department has developed a procedure to take a closer look at itself.

"Someone in the city, but not in the finance department will be trained to come in and audit the department," Chandler said.

In other business the council:

* Voted 4-1 to give final approval to a special ordinance to amend the 2004 Nevada City Budget to reflect actual city expenses and revenues. Jim Rayburn voted against the measure after moving that the ordinance should be postponed until a later meeting so the council could look at the budget amendment more thoroughly. Rayburn's motion to postpone died for lack of a second.

* Accepted a bid of $20,668.00 from United Rentals, Springfield, for two trench boxes and one manhole shield for use in constructing sewer lines. The trench boxes and manhole shield are to shore up the sides of the deep trenches that must be dug for sewer lines.

* Approved the reappointment of Mike Saathoff to a three-year term on the airport board.

* Approved the appointment of Glen Rogers, PhD., to the Nevada Regional Medical Center board of directors.

* Voted 4-0-1, with Tim Moore abstaining because of his role in Bushwhacker Days, to approve $16,750 in tourism grants as recommended by the I.M.P.A.C.T. Nevada Tourism Committee. The committee recommended funding for nine of the 13 grant applications. The Eagles Missouri State convention, $2,000; Eagles Missouri State Golf Tournament, $1,083; Nevada Griffons parents weekend, $1,008; NBC qualifying tournament at Champion Diamonds, $2,300; Sesquicentennial Bushwhacker Days, $2,950 for better entertainment; Nevada Raceway, $4,675 for a sanctioned late-model stock car race; Sesquicentennial Committee, $2,950 for living history exhibit during Bushwhacker Days; Neptunes, $417 for a Tri-State Invitational Swim Meet; Main Street, $667 for Main Street Training. No funding was approved for Remember 2000, flags for Austin Boulevard; Nevada Public Safety, for a 911 simulator; Quilt Guild, for quilt frames; or Hamfest 2005 for advertising.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance to expand the City Airport Board from the current five members to six with at least four members living in the city limits.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance accepting the dedication of streets in Villa Nevada Trailer Park to the city of Nevada.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving an electrical services contract with Cash's Quality Electric.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a sewer extension agreement with Dean Stutesman to extend the city sewer lines to Ashland Estates Plat No. 2. Under the terms of the agreement Stutesman will put the estimated $7,840 to extend a sewer line across Ashland Estates Plat No. 2 in an escrow account and the city will refund any money in excess of the actual cost of constructing the sewer line. If the cost of the projects exceeds $7,840, Stutesman will pay the city any additional costs.

* Postponed action on a special ordinance to approve an agreement with the Nevada Housing Authority to provide additional police services at Nevada Housing Authority properties.

* Passed on second reading a general ordinance making the city clerk the custodian of the city records as well as co-custodian of the records maintained by the communications and records department and also names the chief of communications and records as the custodian of records for the Nevada's Communications Department, the Police Department and the Fire Department. The city clerk is not responsible for the records of independent city entities, such as the city library, Nevada Regional Medical Center, Moore-Few nursing facility, and the Housing Authority.

* Passed on second reading a special ordinance authorizing an electrical services agreement with Wallace Electric Company.

Passed on second reading a special ordinance approving the vacation of the remaining portion of Truman Drive that was platted, but not constructed, just east of the Wal-Mart Supercenter at the request of the property owners in the area to allow the development of property in the area.

* Passed on second reading a special ordinance rezoning property owned by Bill G. and Janet F. Erwin on South Spring Street from R-1, single family residential, to RP-1 planned residential development. A planned zoning district has stricter requirements than R-1 zoned property; however, it also allows more flexibility in the design of the development.

* Passed on second reading a special ordinance approving a service agreement with Lamar Outdoor Advertising for a billboard to promote Nevada.