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City of Greenville working to increase oversight and better safeguard taxpayer dollars, Galloway says

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released a follow-up review of the City of Greenville, located in Wayne County, that found the city has made progress on audit recommendations. A previous audit was initiated as a part of a law enforcement investigation and revealed more than $160,000 missing from city funds. The former city clerk, Pam Birmingham, now faces felony charges of stolen property and forgery.

“Part of the audit process is providing recommendations to governments so they can take steps to protect taxpayers’ money,” Galloway said. “Making these changes to better safeguard taxpayer dollars is especially important after fraud is discovered. I am pleased to see Greenville officials working to implement the recommendations and restore the public’s trust.”

The follow-up review found the city has taken steps to increase oversight of finances. The previous report outlined how nearly $70,000 was collected for utility and municipal court payments, but not deposited in city bank accounts. An additional $39,000 in city checks were  improperly negotiated by the former clerk.

The mayor and a board member now independently review check registers and bank statements and checks are signed by two board members. The board has also reduced the number of bank accounts from 18 to seven in order to simplify record keeping and better track city funds.

The audit report also identified approximately $44,000 in overpayments on checks issued to the former city clerk and cash withdrawals made for the payment of wages that were inconsistent with timesheets and past city records and practices. The city is now working to improve personnel policies and payroll processes. A review of recent activity found that compensation had been properly reported and that payroll taxes were properly withheld.

In total, auditors identified 18 areas of concern to evaluate during the follow-up review. Nine recommendations were implemented. For six other recommendations, progress has been made or recommendations were partially implemented. The recommendation for three findings had not been addressed, and no specific plans had been made to act on the recommendation.

The complete audit can be found here.