Audit of Polo returns with 'good' rating

Nov. 26—A citizen-requested audit of the city of Polo, Missouri, has resulted in a positive rating from the state auditor's office.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway gave the Caldwell County city a rating of "good."

However, the audit did find some issues, including that the city has not adequately segregated accounting duties or ensured a documented supervisory or independent review over various financial accounting functions is performed.

The City Clerk, who is the sole person responsible for the accounting duties, indicated she was the only employee in City Hall until May 2022 and the board had not established procedures to review her work, according to the audit.

The city has also not established adequate user identification and password controls to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to city computers and data, the audit found. Additionally, the city does not store data backup files at an off-site location.

Auditors also found that the city's compliance with the Sunshine Law could be improved. The board did not always comply with Sunshine Law requirements for closed meetings and open meeting minutes did not document the specific reasons or section of law allowing the meeting to be closed for any of the six closed meetings held between Jan. 1, 2020, and July 31, 2022, the audit states.

Also, auditors found the board has not adopted a written policy regarding public access to city records as required by state law.

A complete copy of the audit is available online at auditor.mo.gov.