Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway has released the final audit report that included former Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Cirtin involvement in a bid to pass a 2017 sales tax.
The expenses were connected to a Missouri Ethics Commission complaint.
The investigation started with a call by a whistleblower.
It came after a county employee rejected a request made by Cirtin to work off the clock in support of the sales tax.
The audit shows taxpayers paid more than $25,000 dollars in legal bills on behalf of Cirtin.
When a new Greene County Commission took over in 2019, it asked the auditor to look into the case.
The county received a poor audit rating, but the new commission has been working to correct the mistakes made by the previous commission.
It received a good rating in August 2020.
The Greene County Sheriff also received a good rating.
You can read more about the audit below, along with the Greene County Commission’s response.
Press Release from Auditor Nicole Galloway
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (November 23, 2021) State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released the audit of the Greene County Commission that included the involvement of a former Greene County commissioner in a 2017 sales tax ballot measure campaign. Among its findings, the audit found that taxpayers paid more than $25,000 in legal invoices sent to the personal address of now-former Presiding Commissioner Robert Cirtin; the expenses were related to a Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) complaint.
In December 2017, acting on information obtained through the office’s Whistleblower Hotline, Auditor Galloway requested authority from the County Commission for her office to conduct a thorough, independent audit into allegations that public resources were misused to advocate for the ballot measure; however, the County Commission at that time did not grant her request. Subsequently, after changes to the County Commission due to an election, the County Commission asked Galloway to audit county government.
“I appreciate the cooperation of the current Commission to bring this review to completion, after prolonged efforts by two former commissioners to prevent taxpayers from seeing how their tax dollars were used,” Auditor Galloway said.
The commission retained legal representation from law firms, costing over $34,000, related to an election law complaint at the MEC without soliciting competitive bids, and did not enter into a contract with one of those law firms.
Eventually, the MEC issued rulings describing violations of law and ethics rules surrounding Cirtin’s activities regarding the adoption of the sales tax. Auditors found that county taxpayers paid a total of $20,284 to a law firm for invoices sent to Cirtin at his personal address. Auditors also found that Cirtin approved a reimbursement to himself totaling $5,400 for additional legal expenses that he initially personally paid to the same law firm. Cirtin also was paid for a reimbursement request for mileage to travel to Jefferson City to meet with legal counsel about the MEC complaint; however, there was no commission or other signature indicating the request was approved before it was paid.
Auditors also found that, in violation of county policy and legal guidance, Cirtin used his official county email to encourage other county employees to engage in campaign activity around the sales tax measure. In one exchange, he asked a county employee to engage in political activity for the political action committee (PAC) formed to support the sales tax. When the employee raised concerns about doing work for a PAC as a county employee, Cirtin told the employee to do it on their free time. The employee resisted the order, citing it would be a violation of ethics laws.
A commission with two new members, including current Presiding Commissioner Dixon, voted early in 2019 to formally request that Auditor Galloway audit the entire government of Greene County. The Auditor previously released audits of Greene County government and of the Greene County Sheriff. Both of those reports gave a rating of “good.”
The audit released today of the Greene County Commission looked at the specific allegations related to the former Presiding Commissioner’s involvement in the 2017 sales tax campaign, as well as other operations of the Commission. A complete copy of the audit report, which gave a rating of “poor,” can be found here.
Press Release from Greene County Commission
The State Auditor’s office has completed an audit of certain operations of the Greene County Commission. The audit looked at three years of financial records ending in December of 2019. In January of 2019, Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon, who had just taken office, and two former Commissioners, requested this state audit.
It’s important to note that the findings of this audit reflect the conduct of the previous Commission. The State Auditor’s office gave several recommendations for the county’s professional services, disbursements, and email policy. Solutions to many of the recommendations in the audit have already been in place since 2019. That same year, the county also implemented a transparency portal on www.greenecountymo.gov that shows current expenses and revenues in the county budget.
The audit evaluated the previous Commission’s internal controls over financial functions, compliance with legal provisions, and management of certain financial transactions. The overall rating of the years audited was “Poor”. The primary issues stemmed from complaints surrounding the 2017 county sales tax campaign.
“The findings are not surprising. The public was very aware of the issues with the prior Commission. Beginning in January of 2019, the current Commission took steps to remedy many of these issues. We have also addressed other issues using the guidance provided by the State Auditor’s office in accordance with Missouri law,” said Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon.
This is the final report from the State Auditor’s office on these issues. The overall rating of a previous audit of Greene County in August of 2020 was “Good”.
