City releases audit results

The city yesterday released internal audit results for Springfield Art Museum, Springfield-Greene County Health Department, and the Planning and Development Department.

Completed by St. Louis-based certified public accounting firm RubinBrown LLP, the audits marked areas of improvements and best practices by the departments, according to a news release.

For the Art Museum audit conducted last year, RubinBrown discovered some cash receipts were unable to be traced accurately by city finance officials. Additionally, refunded and voided transactions were not supported by documentation, and the audit found one piece of artwork was not located where it was recorded in the system.

Best practices for the museum include a multilayer security system to protect the facility outside of business hours, as well as vaults that secure loaned items, according to the release. In 2016, seven Andy Warhol prints were stolen from the museum.

Conducted in March, the Planning and Development audit specifically covered loan programs and grant processing.

For the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2018, the department’s loan portfolio averaged $40 million. RubinBrown officials did not find internal control weaknesses, according to the release.

The Health Department audit found health care privacy issues, notably that some former staff members’ passwords to online records did not expire.

“The Springfield-Greene County Health Department takes our responsibility to ensure patient privacy and confidentiality very seriously, which is why we asked for this audit to ensure we are following current best practices. Our staff have already begun to implement these recommendations,” said Director of Health Clay Goddard, in the release.