McCaskill to audit Revenue Department over office equipment
AP -
State Auditor Claire McCaskill's office said Friday that it will investigate how the Missouri Department of Revenue handled state property as license offices switched from being run by the state to being run by private agents.
The state auditor and revenue officials have squabbled for months over access to information, particularly involving the 11 formerly state-run license offices that Gov. Matt Blunt turned over to private agents this year.
Blunt, a Republican, defeated McCaskill, a Democrat, in the governor's race in November.
Auditors, hoping to track state equipment, showed up at a Jefferson City license office as it was making the switch earlier this summer.
Department Director Trish Vincent was furious, saying auditors entered what had become a private business without authority and without telling the agency the scope of their planned audit.
McCaskill's office responded that it was not conducting a formal audit and staff just wanted to determine how inventory was being tracked, to ensure state property was returned to the state.
On Thursday, the Revenue Department said it sold equipment from those 11 license offices to the new contract agents for more than $16,000. Agents paid anywhere from $151 to $3,100 for an office worth of equipment such as chairs, desks, computers and fax machines.
The bid request went out by e-mail only to the state's contract agents, not the general public. Agents were allowed to use the equipment starting as soon as they took over the office, some in early May.
McCaskill's office said it appeared the bid process only began after private agents already were using the equipment and that proper procedures weren't followed.
"We are alarmed that the Department of Revenue believes giving state property to anyone and then asking them to pay a nominal amount for such property constitutes a bid," McCaskill's office said in a written statement announcing the audit.
The Revenue Department had no immediate response Friday.
The agency said previously that contract agents were the target market for the equipment, and that selling it off was better than throwing it away or paying to move and store it so it could be sold at auction.
McCaskill also has said that various agencies have informed her office that they won't cooperate with planned audits.
The dispute centers on whether the investigations are "performance audits," rather than traditional financial audits. Blunt's administration contends the auditor does not have the legal authority to do performance audits that evaluate the effectiveness of programs rather than examining how the money is spent.
State Auditor Claire McCaskill's office said Friday that it will investigate how the Missouri Department of Revenue handled state property as license offices switched from being run by the state to being run by private agents.
The state auditor and revenue officials have squabbled for months over access to information, particularly involving the 11 formerly state-run license offices that Gov. Matt Blunt turned over to private agents this year.
Blunt, a Republican, defeated McCaskill, a Democrat, in the governor's race in November.
Auditors, hoping to track state equipment, showed up at a Jefferson City license office as it was making the switch earlier this summer.
Department Director Trish Vincent was furious, saying auditors entered what had become a private business without authority and without telling the agency the scope of their planned audit.
McCaskill's office responded that it was not conducting a formal audit and staff just wanted to determine how inventory was being tracked, to ensure state property was returned to the state.
On Thursday, the Revenue Department said it sold equipment from those 11 license offices to the new contract agents for more than $16,000. Agents paid anywhere from $151 to $3,100 for an office worth of equipment such as chairs, desks, computers and fax machines.
The bid request went out by e-mail only to the state's contract agents, not the general public. Agents were allowed to use the equipment starting as soon as they took over the office, some in early May.
McCaskill's office said it appeared the bid process only began after private agents already were using the equipment and that proper procedures weren't followed.
"We are alarmed that the Department of Revenue believes giving state property to anyone and then asking them to pay a nominal amount for such property constitutes a bid," McCaskill's office said in a written statement announcing the audit.
The Revenue Department had no immediate response Friday.
The agency said previously that contract agents were the target market for the equipment, and that selling it off was better than throwing it away or paying to move and store it so it could be sold at auction.
McCaskill also has said that various agencies have informed her office that they won't cooperate with planned audits.
The dispute centers on whether the investigations are "performance audits," rather than traditional financial audits. Blunt's administration contends the auditor does not have the legal authority to do performance audits that evaluate the effectiveness of programs rather than examining how the money is spent.
posted by Shane at 12:07 PM
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