Audit identifies multiple findings from previous audits
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (Dec. 7, 2015) State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an audit report of the Butler County government. In the report, Auditor Galloway identified multiple findings that have been included in previous reports of the county.
“My report highlights concerns within Butler county government operations, but also offers recommendations for improvement,” Auditor Galloway said. “I’m hopeful Butler County officials will use this information to make improvements that strengthen government accountability for their citizens.”
The report makes recommendations to improve the security of electronic data in the county’s possession. Currently, county employees are not required to change their passwords on a regular basis and passwords are not kept confidential in some offices, which increases risk of unauthorized access to information.
The audit also identified issues with computer system access in the county collector’s office. The county collector and staff are responsible for collecting taxes, which means they should not also have not have system access rights that allow them to alter or delete property values, property tax billings or property tax receipts in the system. This is a way to ensure effective checks and balances, and has been noted in two prior audit reports.
Additionally, the audit found the county collector’s financial activities are not adequately reviewed, including preparation of the county’s annual settlement. The audit recommends the county immediately implement a review process, and improve tax tracking in the county’s account book.
The complete audit report, which received an overall performance rating of “good,” is online here.
