Battlefield city audit reveals procedural issues

The audit, presented publicly June 29, points out several areas where documentation was lacking or where proper procedures were not followed. For instance:

• No documentation was available for engineering, legal and auditing service proposals for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005; the cost of services was nearly $100,000. The city said in its written response that it is developing a policy for procuring professional services, which will be ready by the end of the current fiscal year.

• The hourly billing rate for the city attorney increased from $100 to $120 in August 2004, though city ordinance did not officially establish the increase until September 2005. Battlefield officials said they are ensuring that billing rates match approved contracts and city ordinances.

• The city paid $4,429 to then-Mayor Michelle Heslep between June 2003 and February 2004 for services related to a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. While the money was authorized in the grant, the needed documentation was not filed for the expenditures. The city said it is in contact with FEMA to resolve the issue.

• The city’s new sewer software accounting program, implemented in November, also led to some discrepancies in bill collections. For example, a difference of $9,400 was noted between the November 2005 end-of-month balance and the balance for the beginning of December. The city said it has become more fluent in the new program, which should prevent future issues.

The state investigation came as a result of a citizen petition. The state auditor’s office can only audit a political subdivision upon request of its residents. The Battlefield audit petition was certified in June 2005, according to auditor’s office spokeswoman Samantha Brewer.

Battlefield resident Harold Nimmo requested the audit and spearheaded the campaign to collect more than 200 signatures. Nimmo could not be reached for comment.

As is the case with all petition-initiated audits, Battlefield had to pay for the audit process, which cost the city roughly $1,400.

The audit does not enforce regulations; it only makes recommendations and points out discrepancies, which the city would be responsible for correcting.

Springfield audit

An audit petition for the city of Springfield that has been submitted to the state is making a stop in the Greene County clerk’s office for validation. In June, a petition with 7,000 signatures was turned into the auditor’s office. The state requires at least 5,000 valid signatures.

Greene County Clerk Richard Struckhoff said his office is currently working on two statewide petitions, the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative and a tobacco tax increase, both of which must be completed before July 31, so the audit petition would have to wait until they are completed.

Struckhoff said he was not sure how long the audit validation process would take.

Former City Council and Congressional candidate Doug Burlison spearheaded the signature collection process with help from the Greene County Libertarian Party, of which he is a former chairman. He said his concerns arose from his campaign for City Council in 2005.

“There were a lot of unanswered questions when I encountered voters at different events,” Burlison said, mentioning management of failed water pumps and the recently passed coal-fired power plant addition by City Utilities as well as the shortfall in the Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Fund. “It seemed like whenever these issues were brought up, you’d get the standard political response from officeholders, and that wasn’t satisfactory to a lot of people. This audit process was the only thing I identified that would get to the bottom of it.”

The state audit, Burlison said, would be different from the annual audit performed by Kansas City-based KPMG LLP, which in December cleared Springfield’s financials of any discrepancies. He said the state audit is more like an investigation of a city’s practices, as opposed to simply “balancing the checkbook.”

If the petition is validated, it would be sent to the state auditor’s office and the audit process would begin.

Spokeswoman Brewer said the office tries to initiate audit proceedings within 90 days of receiving a validated petition, though the length of wait varies depending on the office’s workload.

KPMG’s services cost the city more than $100,000 in December. The state audit, if approved, would cost the city between $60,000 and $80,000, according to estimates from the auditor’s office.