St. Louis Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly needs to improve procedures on procurements and contracts, as well as controls over payroll and receipts and deposits, according to a new audit report by state Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is also the Democratic nominee for Missouri governor.
Most eye-catching is that the office paid more than a half-million dollars for legal services in 2019 with no competitive process to secure the work and only about $125,000 of that work done with a contract in place. Nearly $250,000 of legal fees performed with only a handshake agreement was done by the daughter of Daly’s chief of staff, Tom Vollmer.
“Business relationships that impair independence reduce the effectiveness of controls and decision making and harm public confidence,” the auditor reported. “If a relative is selected as a vendor, documenting why that person was selected could help reduce the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Daly responded that “nepotism” according to Missouri law concerns only relatives of the elected official and not relatives of employees. Also, he argued, given that state statute sets a standard for legal fees, “there is no financial benefit to the taxpayer to undergo the costs of a competitive selection process or to secure a contract for attorneys who collect back taxes.”
The audit also reported some wining and dining on a city credit card, sometimes without details for what was purchased and sometimes with alcohol purchases reported. Daly responded only to the reported purchase of $97 in alcohol on a city credit card, but said it “was an oversight” and the city was reimbursed.
The audit also found that the office needs to improve reporting of commuting and personal use of city-owned vehicles. Other concerns included not using timesheets to document employee work hours and not reporting employee leave information for reconciliation to the city’s central leave system. The office also needs to improve verification of receipts and deposits.
Daly has served as collector of revenue since 2007. His current term expires in March 2023. The office had 91 full-time and 2 per-performance employees as of March 3, 2019 and expended approximately $8.7 million during the year ended March 3, 2019.
This audit was triggered by a request by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to complete a comprehensive, independent audit of the City of St. Louis. That request came after a group of St. Louis residents initiated a petition drive to require an audit of the city.