A state audit of the Missouri State Water Patrol announced Wednesday shows the overall performance of the agency was rated Fair.

In a news release, State Auditor Tom Schweich released the completed audit, which focuses primarily on the months prior to the patrol’s merger with the Missouri State Highway Patrol on January 1st of this year.  That merger was expected to save the state approximately $3 million, but it Schweich says it will actually cost the state an extra $900,000 each year.  He says many savings were outweighed by an increase in the agency’s health care and retirement costs of $1.8 million.

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The audit found the water patrol failed to transfer boater education fees of over $3,000 to the General Revenue Fund, and the money was missing. The audit staff discovered discrepancies between recorded cash receipts and deposit records and requested the MSHP investigate the matter further. In April 2011, a former water patrol clerk was charged with felony stealing. The report cited weaknesses in the water patrol internal controls which allowed the theft to go undetected.

Auditors also discovered 28 boats, worth a total of $250,000, remain unused in a warehouse with no clear plans for their future use or disposal. These boats should have been disposed of as surplus property, but the auditor’s office was told a miscommunication prevented them from being prepared/scheduled for surplus.

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