December 17, 2020
The City of Raytown has received the audit and findings from the Missouri State Auditor’s Office, pursuant to Section 29.230, RSMo. Two years ago, Raytown citizens petitioned to have an audit of city government conducted by the Missouri State Auditor’s office, the results have been presented, and the audit process has given city staff/leadership, the Board of Aldermen and the community, important historical information about where the City excels as well as areas that, when addressed if not already done so, will keep us on our desired path of continuous improvement and recognizing and utilizing our strengths.
“During the past nineteen plus months, we have worked in direct collaboration with the Auditor’s staff, operating efficiently, effectively and transparently on behalf of the Raytown taxpaying businesses and citizens. We have and will continue to use the information provided from the Auditor’s Report to improve our operations,” said Damon Hodges, Raytown City Administrator. “We are grateful for the many hours that our staff and the Auditor’s staff have dedicated to this goal and we have already implemented, or are in the process of implementing, the Auditor’s recommendations.”
The Missouri Auditor recommended, and the City of Raytown has implemented, the following improvements to address several of the recommendations.
• Improved monitoring regarding use of the restricted sales tax dollars. – Staff has and will continue to develop additional, suitable accounting procedures to ensure that the City continues to use restricted sales tax revenues in compliance with state law.
• Revised Police Department policies and procedures regarding volunteer groups assisting the department. – Through the leadership of Chief Robert Kuehl, the Police department has implemented quality assurance and quality control protocols to ensure the department is proactive in addressing the recommended improvements within the department and that volunteers are appropriately vetted.
• Adopted recommendations to improve the Parks and Recreation Board’s oversight and operations of the BMX Advisory Board. – The Parks and Recreation Board, along with Parks staff, have instituted multiple measures of reconciliation to provide adequate oversight.
• The City Clerk has started attending all closed sessions and appropriate minutes are taken and approved by the Board of Aldermen, thereby addressing the Sunshine Law requirements. The Parks Department has instituted changes to the advisory board meetings as well.
“The City of Raytown and the Board of Aldermen have not waited for the final report to begin making changes and improvements based on the Auditor’s recommendations,” said Mr. Hodges. “The responses above that were included within the report have either been completed or are currently in the process of being completed. The audit has shown us the importance of institutional knowledge and the professional dedication of our current City staff, and we appreciate their continued commitment to provide quality service to the citizens of Raytown.”
By law, the cost of this extensive audit will be paid for by the City once an invoice has been provided. Because of the large number of hours expended by staff on this audit, there has already been and will continue to be a return on investment that will assist in addressing concerns levied by the Raytown citizens that signed the petition as well all of the citizens of Raytown. “We will move forward from this with confidence in the City’s collaborative and transparent leadership, a commitment to a process of continuous improvement and with faith in the current plans that are already underway, as well as any plans for the future,” said Mayor Michael McDonough.
