Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Published October 14, 2009 10:00 pm - A state audit of McDonald County has found weaknesses in governmental-department procedures across the county. Problems in accounting procedures were common. In Prosecuting Attorney Janice Durbin’s office, receipt slips were not always issued or recorded in the electronic system, which poses the potential for improper money handling, according to the audit. McDonald County procedures flagged by state auditors By Emily Younker eyounker@joplinglobe.com A state audit of McDonald County has found weaknesses in governmental-department procedures across the county. Problems in accounting procedures were common. In Prosecuting Attorney Janice Durbin’s office, receipt slips were not always issued or recorded in the electronic system, which poses the potential for improper money handling, according to the audit. Accounting responsibilities were also not properly segregated. The former office manager took care of receiving, recording, depositing and disbursing money as well as reconciling bank accounts, according to the audit. Durbin said she wasn’t surprised by the audit’s findings. In a written response to the audit, she said her office’s budget has been cut $152,000 since Jan. 1, 2007, which has resulted in staffing cuts. That makes dividing accounting duties a greater challenge, she said by phone Wednesday. “(But) we’ve had personnel changes since then that’s led to vast improvement in terms of some of the receipting and things like that,” she said. “Part of the problem at the time (of the audit) was we were in the process of changing from one system to another. We changed accounting programs, which actually helped us because it improved our ability to track things.” She said she and her staff are working to address the concerns listed in the audit. Clerk, treasurer The audit also suggested weaknesses in the accounting system between County Clerk Barbara Williams and Treasurer Joye Helm. According to the audit, the two didn’t adequately reconcile their records, which led to an unidentified balance of more than $13,000 at the end of 2007. The audit also found that money transfers between county funds didn’t always balance. Helm said Wednesday she is unaware of any accounting issues. “We do reconcile our accounting records,” she said. “We reconcile every month at the end of the month.” Williams said Wednesday she thinks the problem is more of a procedural matter than a question of whether reconciliation occurs. “We reconcile our records; we could not run the budget without it,” she said. “We certainly will implement any procedure they recommend.” Williams said she was unable to comment further because she hadn’t seen the complete audit. 
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