City of St. Peters NEWS RELEASE
Community Relations
One St. Peters Centre Blvd.
P.O. Box 9
St. Peters, Missouri 63376
January 23, 2008
Missouri Auditor’s Report Finds No Violations of State Laws, Ethics Rules, Regulations or City Ordinances; Audit Independently Confirms Lakeside 370 Project is Profitable
Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee presented the results of the five-month audit of the City of St. Peters in a meeting at St. Peters City Hall this evening. The Auditor’s report contained no improprieties of any kind and confirmed that St. Peters follows Missouri laws, ethics rules, regulations and City ordinances. The Auditor also provided independent documentation of the profitability of the Lakeside 370 project.
The City’s detailed responses are included in the Auditor’s report released at the meeting, and Mayor Len Pagano will make a presentation on the City’s responses at the regularly scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting Thursday night at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The City of St. Peters website will also provide a link to the Auditor’s complete report, when the Auditor makes it available, on the City website, stpetersmo.net. Copies of the Auditor’s complete report will also be available at City Hall.
"I am very pleased with the thorough and detailed job completed by the Auditor’s office," said Mayor Pagano. "The report confirms what I’ve always known––St. Peters follows state laws, we follow ethics rules, we follow City ordinances and we haven’t done anything improper. There was no missing money. And, their report confirms that the City was not guilty of any wrongdoing and is making a sizeable profit on the sale of Lakeside 370."
The State Auditor’s staff spent five months looking at records as far back as the year 2000 through the end of 2007. The comprehensive audit reviewed the financial records and operational policies of the City.
This is the first time the State has audited St. Peters in at least fifty years.
"We generally agree with the standards the State Auditor’s office recommends," Mayor Pagano added. "The auditor’s findings in the report involve isolated instances where the City and State Auditor’s office have disagreed. These are simply differences of professional opinion in the methods for achieving the best value for our taxpayers."