State Auditor Tom Schweich on Wednesday released the completed audit of the Missouri Division of Tourism, which was rated “Fair” for overall performance.  The audit report indicates Tourism Commission failed to establish a conflict of interest policy, budgeted to spend more than it took in, and concealed vendor-payments to companies connected to commission members.

The audit report found the Tourism Commission has not established a conflict of interest policy for its members, and three commission members, including the lieutenant governor and the current chairwoman of the commission, took part in funding decisions benefiting entities with which they were associated.

The audit found the commission and the division budgeted to spend more than available in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. The division paid $4 million of fiscal year 2010 expenditures out of its fiscal year 2011 appropriation and expects to pay $4 million of its fiscal year 2011 expenditures from its fiscal year 2012 appropriation. The auditor noted that the commission’s plan to spend more than it expects to have available in a year does not make financial sense, especially when additional budget cuts could occur.

Rather than paying some vendors directly, the division paid its advertising agency a total of $2.2 million in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 which was passed through to other vendors, reducing the transparency of who actually received the funds. Of the $2.2 million, $1.54 million was passed through to Tour of Missouri, Inc.; $480,645 was passed through to subcontractors for website services; and $141,340 was passed through to vendors for conferences, research and other services. The advertising agency had no involvement in most of these services, so it is unclear why it was used to pass monies through to these other vendors. The division also paid the advertising agency an additional $586,056 for website development services, which were not within the scope of the original bid, without soliciting bids or showing the rates were competitively established.

To view the complete audit report, Citizens Summary and audit rating scale, click here.