Ste. Genevieve County residents were overtaxed by $370,000 according to new report from Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick

Residents of Ste. Genevieve County have been overtaxed by approximately $370,000 due to a calculation error according to a report released today by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. The audit gives the county a "fair" rating while also finding the County Commissioners violated state law as they gave themselves and other county officials a 5 percent pay raise without first receiving proper authorization.

"The audits we perform serve a very useful purpose and in this case we were able to detect an error that led to Ste. Genevieve County residents being overtaxed by $370,000 over a two-year period. The good news is the county has responded by developing a plan that will correct the error going forward and address this significant over-collection of tax dollars from the people of Ste. Genevieve County," said Auditor Fitzpatrick.

He added, "It's also important that county officials do a better job of following the letter of the law as it applies to pay for both officials and county employees. The raises they approved in 2024 were not authorized by the Salary Commission as required by law, which should not have happened. I'm glad to see they are now aware of and planning to comply with the law fully."

The audit released today finds the County Clerk did not accurately calculate the property tax levy reduction amounts to offset 50% of sales tax money received, and the county levied excess property taxes totaling approximately $370,000 for 2024 and 2023. State law requires the county to reduce property taxes for a percentage of sales taxes collected. Ste. Genevieve County voters enacted a 1/2 cent sales tax with a provision to reduce property taxes by 50% of sales taxes collected. The county is required to estimate annual property tax levies to meet the 50% reduction requirement and provide for an additional adjustment based on actual sales tax collections for the preceding year that are more or less than the estimate for that year.

The audit report also finds Sheriff's office personnel have not regularly remitted commissary net proceeds to the county Inmate Prisoner Detainee Security Fund, or investigated and properly disbursed unidentified money in the Inmate bank account. The Inmate bank account contains a "checkbook adjustment" totaling approximately $60,000. Sheriff's office personnel indicated the checkbook adjustment amount represents unlabeled funds in the account when the office transitioned to the new commissary vendor in 2021 and they believe it is likely undisbursed net proceeds on commissary sales prior to the transition. However, they have not taken action to investigate it and determine its proper disposition due to other office priorities. The office also has not established procedures to routinely follow up on outstanding checks in the Inmate bank account. According to a system report provided by Sheriff's office personnel, as of October 8, 2025, 69 checks totaling $5,338 were outstanding for more than 3 years.

The audit also identifies how the County Commission approved a 5% cost-of-living salary increase for county officials without authorization from the county's Salary Commission. The minutes from the Salary Commission meeting in 2023 do not mention a cost-of-living salary increase, and the Salary Commission did not meet in 2021 as required by state law. In January 2024, the County Commission approved the cost-of-living salary increase for county employees, including elected officials, as part of the 2024 county budget. The County Clerk indicated that the county did not know it was required to receive authorization for cost-of-living salary increases from the Salary Commission and believed a Salary Commission meeting in 2021 was not needed.

Other findings in the audit report include mid-term salary increases for the Sheriff in violation of constitutional provisions and a failure to develop a records management and retention policy that includes electronic communication in compliance with the Missouri Secretary of State Records Services Division guidance.

The complete audit report is available here.

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