Auditor: Webster County improves after $18K theft

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway says Webster County’s municipal government has made procedural improvements in the wake of a nearly $18,000 theft by a former employee.

Galloway’s office today released an audit report with a “good” rating, the second-highest score possible.

"After a previous audit described the factors that allowed fraudulent activity to continue undiscovered for years, Webster County officials committed to establishing safeguards to protect taxpayer dollars," Galloway said in a news release. "I commend the county on the progress that has been made and encourage them to continue their efforts to restore the public's faith in their local government."

Galloway’s office last year uncovered $17,676 in fraudulent purchases made by Billy Breitenstein, the former administrative assistant to the Webster County clerk. He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay back the stolen money.

In the audit released today, officials said oversight improvements have been made in the county clerk’s office, where a previous report found miscalculations resulted in incorrect amounts being withheld from tax collections. However, the report also found additional areas of improvement, according to the release.

Audit findings include:
    •    insufficient monitoring of tax collections by the county collector;
    •    a lack of oversight on $183,000 in taxes with changed amounts during the year ended Feb. 29, 2016;
    •    inadequate segregation of accounting duties in the prosecuting attorney’s office; and
    •    poor controls over county computers.

In all cases, county officials said controls are being put in place to comply with the auditor’s recommendations.