Vernon County's 2015 audit released

Nevada Daily Mail

The end of July saw the release of findings for the quadrennial audit of Vernon County.

Quoting from the summary findings, Joe Hardin, presiding county commissioner said, "The audit results indicate this entity is well managed."

"As provided by state law, each county in the state is audited once every four years," explained Phil Couch, Vernon County's collector and ex-officio treasurer. "That is a very extensive audit which examines, not only my books, but the management of each county office."

Between those extensive audits, counties are required to commission a less extensive audit with its results sent to the state auditor's office. Such audits focus on management of federal, state and private grants received by a county.

"When I began in 1985, I used a 2ft. by 3 ft. ledger for each township. And while they were cumbersome, it was easy for me and the auditors to track money from receipt to deposit to political entity or bill paid. And it sure took a whole lot less paper."

Naturally, the biennial and quadrennial audits center on the treasurer/collector since funds pass through that office.

"As they say, if you really want to know what's going on, 'follow the money,'" said Couch. "The auditors were in my office for the better part of two weeks and then they came back for a while to examine the records of every county office. When an audit is completed, the auditors return and conduct what is known as an 'exit interview.'"

Commissioner Hardin noted, "These days, it seems there's no such thing as a perfectly clean audit. Out of the millions of dollars, all of the tax bills, receipts, payments, programs and regulations this county deals with in a given year, the auditors found a grand total of three things."

One dealt with transfers of funds from what is known as the Special Road and Bridge Fund.

Explained Neal Gerster, northern district commissioner, "The county is allowed to recoup some of its administrative costs for a bridge project but it's capped at 5 percent of the total project cost. Delays at the state level have dragged that bridge project out by several years. The total cost of the project has climbed and so have our administrative costs. The audit was limited to a snapshot of one year but when you look at the whole bridge project, we kept to that 5 percent limit."

The second finding cited three things in the area of electronic data security. Not every computer at the courthouse is password protected. Most computers have not been set up to lock after a specified number of incorrect logon attempts or a certain period of inactivity. In the sheriff's office, the audit found that backup data is not tested periodically and not stored at an off-site location.

The last area had to do with controls and procedures at the sheriff's office.

As noted in the auditor's report, "The office does not prepare monthly lists of liabilities for the evidence and commissary bank accounts ... does not maintain a complete control-log summary of all seized property on hand ... and does not adequately pursue collection of or track amounts due for prisoner board bills."

When the Sheriff's Office moved from the old to the new jail, a number of totes filled with old and no longer needed evidence were moved as well. These have yet to be catalogued in order to obtain a court order for their destruction.

"The budget for the sheriff's office is about $1 million," began Mike Buehler, county clerk. "The auditors did red flag a $6,000 unpaid prisoner board bill owed to Vernon County but left unmentioned another prisoner board bill that's also owed to this county and which currently stands at about $101,000."

The smaller bill is owed by a nearby county while the far larger one is owed by the State of Missouri.

"We are serious about watching every penny and following every regulation," said Hardin. "We have implemented or addressed every recommendation an audit has made in the past and we will do so with these. But the true bottom line is never money it's people. The reason the auditors said this county is 'well managed' is because of our employees, and I am grateful for every one of them."

The entire report by the Missouri State Auditor is available online at auditor.mo.gov. The audit report number is 2016-048.