This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 8, 2011 - New Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich gave University City's municipal government only a "fair'' rating in his first major local audit since taking office in January.
Begun under his predecessor, Democrat Susan Montee, the University City probe was conducted at the behest of city voters, 2,881 who had signed a petition. The city has to foot the cost of the audit, estimated to be $80,000.
Among the findings:
-- "The audit found the city failed to enforce the collection of fees for city trash services which resulted in 3,373 delinquent accounts as of June 2010, totaling $1.6 million."
-- "...the city paid outside law firms over $230,000 in fiscal year 2010 (FY10), including $43,000 for city attorney services, but did not solicit proposals and has not done an analysis to determine if outsourcing legal services is the most economical option. The city paid $146,000, including legal fees, to settle a discrimination case, instead of only paying a $15,000 deductible, because it failed to notify its insurance company promptly."
-- University City "also paid $97,400 in severance pay to its former city manager and included the same package clause in the new city manager's employment agreement. If the former city manager's termination date had been just 8 days later, the city would have saved $28,600."
-- "The audit citied the city's insufficient procedures for issuing receipts and noted the city does not adequately segregate accounting duties. In addition, the city charged over $900,000 in costs to various restricted funds without adequate supporting documentation."
The auditor also faulted the City Council for failing to "document the reasons or the votes regarding meeting closures, as required by state law. The city should also maintain a public log to document its compliance with the Sunshine Law and should ensure copies of meeting minutes are maintained by the city clerk."
