Report shows county violated statutes

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Bourbon County violated four Kansas accounting statutes in 2011, accountant Terry Sercer told Bourbon County commissioners Friday.

In his audit report, Sercer, of Diehl, Banwart, Bolton CPAs, said the statements "fairly present" the activities of the county for the calendar year.

The county's financial practices and expenditures were tested for compliance with state and federal laws. Sercer said because the county spent more than $500,000 in federal money he, by law, also became a federal auditor.

The first three violations in the report dealt with the county treasurer's office and say the treasurer did not follow state statutes when dealing with partial payment plans for individuals with delinquent taxes for real estate; assessing interest rates to individuals with delinquent taxes on partial payment plans; and publishing of the delinquent real estate taxes. These violations were also stated in the audit of the county treasurer's office that Sercer conducted for commissioners in October 2011.

The fourth violation in the audit report deals with the Escrow Suspense Fund, which is a county agency fund set up to account for partial property tax payments.

According to the report, this fund had a negative cash balance of $3,479.01.

"She is working on this today diligently and I told her (County Treasurer Susan Quick) she needed to check for everybody that made payment on the partial payment (plan)," Sercer said.

Quick said she wasn't surprised by the audit's findings.

"(There are) some problems that we are working on and trying to correct," she said, adding there is "usually a hitch" that has to be worked on. "... I wasn't surprised by some of the stuff.

"Hopefully, we can get it corrected, ... I think it has to be some kind of error," she added.

The rest of the auditor's report discussed normal adjustments that "clean up" some of the county's balances, or funds that were closed out several years ago. Sercer informed commissioners they need to "try and have less adjustments" next year.

A finding emphasized in last year's report about internal control, pertaining to the Community Corrections Department and inmate funds, was repeated to commissioners this year.

All checks of more than $500 issued to released inmates must be signed by two county employees, the report said.

Sercer said "several checks" greater than $500 did not have two signatures, and one check cleared the bank with no signatures.

"We didn't see any missing money, but if (you're) not doing things right, it's easier for that money to come up missing," Sercer said.

Of the four violations the country received, Sercer said none are criminal or will result in any fines.

County Clerk Joanne Long said she was "glad to see there weren't any budget violations.

"We try and make sure that doesn't happen," she said. "Nothing was really surprising to me in that regard."

Commissioners have also received all the 2012 budget requests from county departments. The panel plans to review budget requests throughout the weekend to determine what cuts might be made and from where.

"As of now, it's about the same as last year in terms of mill levy," Sercer said.

In other business:

* Representatives from the Amish community met with commissioners to learn what their options are to remedy their community's use of outdoor bathroom facilities, which violate state and county sanitation codes.

"Basically... (you're) going to have do to something, but that choice is yours. We can't make that decision for you," Chairman Harold Coleman said, "whether it's composting or a holding tank, it's totally up to you guys."

Commissioners agreed to give the community until Aug. 31 to come up with a proposal.

Commissioners met with Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials on July 20.

*Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers provided a report to commissioners, which included:

* Gov. Sam Brownback's issuance of a drought declaration, which includes Bourbon County.

This allows use of state fishing lake waters and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs with approval from the Kansas Water Office. For more information, contact the KWO at (785) 296-9283.

* Narrowbanding of public safety radios is approximately 85 percent complete. The city of Fort Scott and other agencies will completely switch over July 31.

*Brenda Boehm, Mapleton, has agreed to become the new Community Emergency Response Teams leader (CERT).

* The Kansas Department of Transportation's Darrin Petrowsky said based on the U.S. 69 Highway Corridor Study and Brownback's announcement in June that the state would continue expansion of the highway, "I believe the recommendation is to construct an upgradable expressway," Petrowsky said.

The project will add two lanes to the highway between Fort Scott and Arma.

Lake Fort Scott residents will get a chance to give their opinions on a proposed resolution to assess debt incurred from the construction of the new sewer district during a public hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at the courthouse.

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