Local News – Monday, March 11th, 2019

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced her office has completed an audit of the Crawford County Collector and Property Tax System. The audit recommended increased oversight of the county’s property tax system and questioned spending by the former collector from the Tax Maintenance Fund. The Tax Maintenance Fund includes a portion of penalties collected on late taxes. Under state law, the fund is used for the administration and operation costs of the county collector’s office, but the audit detailed several concerning expenditures. Between 2014 and 2017, the former Crawford County Collector hired and paid her sister from the fund to prepare and mail annual tax statements, which led to nepotism allegations. The former collector then used Tax Maintenance Funds to pay for $1,000 in personal legal fees she accrued during a Missouri Ethics Commission inquiry. The Crawford County Collector resigned due to the nepotism concerns in March 2018. The report also recommended better oversight of the property tax system to ensure accounts are accurate and complete. Shortcomings identified were that neither the Crawford County Clerk nor the Crawford County Commission adequately reviews the financial activities of the County Collector, the County Clerk does not prepare or verify the accuracy of the current or delinquent tax books, the Crawford County Clerk and the Crawford County Commission do not adequately review changes entered into the County Collector’s property tax system causing discrepancies with additions and abatements, the county has not adequately restricted access to the property tax system and the Crawford County Collector does not account for the numerical sequence of receipt slip numbers assigned by the property tax system. Several of the findings related to improving financial processes were previously identified in past audits of the county. Missouri law requires an audit be performed when a vacancy occurs in a county collector office. The complete audit received an overall rating of fair.

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors meeting took place Tuesday night at 6:00 at the fire station. After approval of the consent agenda, the financial report was reviewed with bills being reviewed and approved and checks signed. The budget was reviewed and showed a fund balance of $227,634.69 as of February 28th. During the calendar review it was noted that the Road Rally will be held at the fire department on March 14th, 15th, and 16th. The monthly reimbursement report showed a total of 19 calls for the month of February, including four structure fires, a flue fire, one car fire, and six first responder calls. The department also worked three vehicle accidents, along with a mutual aid call, a HazMat call and two training calls. The total calls thus far in 2019 stands at 55 with the average cost per call being $115.59. In old business, Engine 83 will have to be returned for repair as the fuel gauge and the transmission are not working correctly. No new business was presented. Fire chief Brad Nash reported that the roof is leaking worse in some different areas than before. The roof is the first scheduled repair on the USDA grant but there still has been no word on when the work will be done. Chief Nash also talked to the board about ID cards for the department. He stated that different departments were requiring ID cards and that also the cards could be used instead of keys for the department entrance which would log personnel in. After some discussion on the issue, the board asked Chief Nash to get more information and pricing. The next meeting of the board was set for April 2nd at 6 p.m. at the firehouse located at #2 South Main. The meeting was then adjourned.

University of Missouri Extension will be offering a Private Pesticide Applicator Training in Dent County tomorrow night in Salem. The training session will start at 6:00 in the evening and last about two and a half hours. Participants are urged to bring their Private Pesticide Applicator Manual to the meeting which will be held at the Dent County Judicial Building located at 112 East 5th Street. For those not having a manual, they will be available for purchase at the meeting for $12.00. To register for the training or for more information, call 573-729-3196.

As winter winds down, you can enjoy an evening under the Moon and stars at the Sky Watch presented by the Bonebrake Center of Nature
and History on Wednesday night, March 13th, at 7:30. You can see close up views of craters and mountains on the Moon using the telescopes of the Dent County Astronomers. Young visitors will get a chance to use the Bonebrake’s “hand’s on” telescopes. All ages are welcome to come, and there will be some special memorabilia for youngsters. To enjoy the night sky, we need clear sky and safe footing. The weather will be monitored as the event approaches, so be sure to check for cancellation due to unusable or unsafe conditions on the Facebook page for the Bonebrake Center of Nature and History or the Dent County Astronomers or call 247-0279.