A recent citizen-requested audit of Joplin, Missouri, revealed actionable issues within the city, citing a lack of transparency with the ordinance process and failure to prepare complete budgets required by law.
Joplin residents gathered enough petition signatures in 2023 to trigger an investigation by State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. The report is available for public view and interpretation.
"It's up to the citizens to hold their elected officials at the city accountable for ensuring that the recommendations of the report are adopted and that the city abides by those recommendations moving forward," said Fitzpatrick.
The report audited the 2023 fiscal year.
The report does not reflect an opinion on the overall operation of Joplin. According to Fitzpatrick, the audit scale has four ratings: excellent, good, fair, and poor. Joplin received a fair rating.
Joplin's City Manager, Nick Edwards, said he's pleased with the audit's results.
"There's no fraud or theft or major collapse of internal control. So the severity of the items is really not severe," Edwards added. “The disappointing thing, though, is that the audits don't talk about the good things that are happening in the organization."
The full 31-page audit report detailed 10 recommended improvements for the city government to consider. The findings ranged from issues within the budgeting and finance department to the way the city council conducted its ordinances and meetings.
One finding revealed that the city council limited transparency by presenting 80% of ordinances as emergency measures. An ordinance is a fully enacted law or policy by the city. When an ordinance is classified as emergent, it reduces the time required to pass the bill under Joplin's Home Rule Charter.
This classification, the audit argues, limits the public comment period before an ordinance is passed.
Fitzpatrick said the overuse of emergency ordinances was “the most concerning”.
The audit report allowed comments from the auditee - Joplin's city government
"The State Auditor's Office has incorrectly concluded that the city does not allow public comment on emergency ordinances. Because of this, the town lacks transparency," the city states in the report.
According to the auditee, emergency ordinances have decreased to 40% since April 2024.
Fitzgerald said that while the city agreed to recommend, adopt, and validate some of the findings, it didn't do so for all of them.
"It's really going to be a situation where the taxpayers need to keep an eye on the city council and on the city itself to ensure that if they believe that those recommendations should be adopted, that the city is following through on doing that," added Fitzgerald.
But as he points out, there are nine other findings in the report needing improvement.
One finding revealed that user activity with complete access to financial accounting systems is not adequately reviewed.
While the Finance Department indicated it had adequate controls to mitigate risk, its reviews don't include reviewing voided transactions. Without a complete review, misappropriation and undetected errors increase.
The report also found the city doesn't have an official process to ensure accurate leave balances of department directors and employees. There is no documentation supporting that the vehicle allowance amounts are reasonable or necessary. Joplin pays vehicle allowances ranging from $1,800 to $6,000 annually to city employees who use their personal vehicles for city business.
Other findings include the city lacking an internal auditing function, as noted in a previous audit report. Lack of oversight by the City Council of the Joplin Sports Authority, and the council's failure to review and approve closed meeting minutes, were also mentioned.
City Manager Edwards said these are "just recommendations and something we are working towards." He said there's no sign of criminal activity, theft, or fraud.
"So really it's about us working together to make sure that we're addressing these findings when and where we can to improve the organization," said Edwards.
Despite the rating and actionable recommendations, Edwards is not surprised by the results. He believes the audit was silent on how well the Joplin city government has pursued grant funds and brought additional resources to the community.
In a video on the Joplin City Government's Facebook, Mayor Keenan Cortez said, "This audit is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and professionalism of our staff. We are extremely proud of the results, which show our finances are secure and your taxpayer resources are safeguarded, in addition to having effective and efficient operational processes."
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