Platte County Recorder of Deeds Christopher Wright last week issued a press release accusing Rob Willard’s Platte County Treasurer’s Office of “misdirecting” receipted funds from the recorder’s office into the wrong banks and bank accounts. The allegation is being refuted by both the county auditor and the county treasurer.
“Funds are accounted for and there is no evidence any of the recorder of deeds or other offices’ daily receipts were deposited into the “wrong banks and bank accounts,” Kevin Robinson, county auditor, said in a press release later in the same day of Wright’s accusations.
Robinson said his audit shows there were daily receipts posted to the wrong general ledger account. These were identified and have been corrected, he added, emphasizing no funds were deposited into “wrong banks and bank accounts.”
An audit is and has been underway of the treasurer’s office, said Robinson. That audit was underway prior to Wright’s accusation and is a standard practice of the auditor’s office upon key personnel changes, “which occurred earlier this year with the passing of the chief deputy Robin Knotts. Audits of this nature ensure procedural compliance and reporting accuracy,” Robinson said.
The auditor said a similar audit is underway of the sheriff’s office. Missouri statutes require transitional audits when an officeholder changes. The transition audit from Sheriff Richard Anderson to Sheriff Mark Owen, who was first elected in 2012, took about three months, Robinson said. This year the sheriff’s audit is anticipated to take more time due to the relocation of the sheriff’s office into the former Platte County Resource Center, the auditor added.
Wright, the recorder of deeds, emailed his press release in the very early hours of Wednesday, July 3. The Landmark received his email at 1:11 a.m. on that date.
“I have lost faith and confidence for Treasurer Willard to lead and govern,” Wright says in part of his news release. “In 2016 he fell for a scam that cost taxpayers $49,000, in April he allegedly receipted $2.5 million and ‘misplaced’ it for several days, and now he has allowed my funds, the people’s money, to be misdirected for six weeks,” Wright alleged.
He has established a track record of negligence, incompetence and embarrassments to this county and I actually encourage my colleague to resign so the governor can appoint a competent individual to serve in this office because I honestly think he has no idea how to do his job,” Wright said.
After the county auditor had responded to Wright’s allegations by saying there is no evidence of funds being deposited into the “wrong banks and bank accounts” and the problem involved only daily receipts posted to a wrong general ledger, Wright issued a second press release, this one later in the day on July 3.
“It’s still a cause for concern because now my question is how was that allowed to happen for six weeks? Where is the oversight?” the recorder said.
Wright wrote in his second press release that he “will be forwarding this over to (Missouri) Auditor (Scott) Fitzpatrick at the state auditor’s office because now I am even more concerned and if the people’s money is where it belongs I will be happy.”
RESPONSE FROM TREASURER ROB WILLARD
Willard was contacted by The Landmark the same day that Wright issued his press release. Willard said he would wait until after the July 4 holiday weekend to respond. On Monday he issued his response to members of the media.
“The recorder alleges that county funds were misdirected – an allegation that was refuted by the county auditor in a separate release that very day. The funds in question were not ‘misdirected’ or deposited in the wrong bank account. All funds have been and continue to be deposited in the correct financial institutions,” Willard said.
“The only mistake was a part of the receipt referring to the bank where the funds were deposited. A minor but regrettable mistake, but all county funds were accounted for at all times and receipted to the correct revenue lines,” Willard remarked.
Willard continued: “The recorder’s press release referenced to a ‘misplaced’ $2.5 million. The funds were not misplaced but rather invested in a United States Treasury note, pursuant to Missouri law. I am not sure where this disinformation came from.”
Willard went on to say the death of the chief deputy for his office in March “has taken a personal toll on the members of the office and strained the capacity of staff. In the wake of this loss, my office has worked even closer with the auditor to ensure that county financial functions continue uninterrupted. The process has also made clear that the treasurer’s office, which has not added an employee in over 20 years, is understaffed. A budget amendment request will be voted on by the county commission in August.
“The sudden death of one employee has a much larger impact on the treasurer’s office, which is the smallest in county government. Exploiting a tragedy like this for political points is unconscionable,” Willard said.
Willard said he finds the timing of the county recorder’s accusations interesting and hinted he believes it is a political response from his recent public opposition to the Platte County Commission’s proposed $408 million jail tax on the Aug. 6 ballot.
“It is telling that the recorder’s statement was released a week after my statement regarding the jail tax appeared in several Platte County newspapers. I understand that the recorder is a close ally of the county commission and that the commission disagrees with my position on this issue. It is discouraging that the response to policy disagreements is character assassination,” Willard said.
“I hope that this is an aberration and not a harbinger of the future of Platte County government. The citizens of Platte County deserve better,” he added.
