Audit gives rating of good, recommends soliciting proposals and entering into written contracts, improving procedures for payroll, receipts and deposits

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As part of the ongoing, comprehensive audit of the City of St. Louis, State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an audit of the Collector of Revenue, which collects taxes and fees for the city. The report, which gave a rating of “good,” said the office needs to improve procedures on procurements and contracts, as well as controls over payroll and receipts and deposits.

The audit found the Collector of Revenue did not solicit proposals or conduct a competitive selection process for various professional services, including legal and consulting work, nor were written contracts in place for many of those services. One of the private attorneys retained was the daughter of the Collector’s chief of staff. The audit recommends better documentation of vendor selection to increase transparency related to contract decision making.

The audit also found the office needs to improve reporting of commuting and personal use of city-owned vehicles. Other concerns included not using timesheets to document employee work hours and not reporting employee leave information for reconciliation to the city’s central leave system. The office also needs to improve verification of receipts and deposits.

In 2018, Auditor Galloway accepted the request by the Board of Aldermen to complete a comprehensive, independent audit of the City of St. Louis. That request came after a group of St. Louis residents initiated a petition drive to require an audit of the city.  For more information on the ongoing audit of the city, visit auditor.mo.gov/STLAudit.

The complete audit of the City of St. Louis Office of Collector of Revenue can be found here.