Mahaska County Soil and Water Conservation District Focus Of Investigation

Auditor of State Mary Mosiman today released a report on a special investigation of the Mahaska County Soil and Water Conservation District (District) for the period March 24, 2006 through August 31, 2013. The special investigation was requested by officials of the Iowa Department of Agriculture (IDALS) as a result of concerns regarding the appropriate use of funds provided to the District. IDALS provides technical support to the 100 soil and water conservation districts across the state and provides funding for certain projects administered by the districts.

Mosiman reported the special investigation identified $279,344.58 of improper disbursements and undeposited collections. The improper disbursements of $242,103.53 include $241,248.08 of cash withdrawn from the District’s accounts on 135 occasions. The withdrawal amounts ranged from $62.08 to $4,600.00. Supporting documents were obtained from the bank for 113 of the 135 withdrawals. Jessica Strasser’s name is included on 112 of the 113 documents as the individual who withdrew the cash. Ms. Strasser, the former Secretary for the District, was an IDALS employee assigned to the District. She resigned from IDALS on August 9, 2013.

Mosiman also reported the improper disbursements identified include $799.45 of penalty, interest, and fees for state and federal payroll tax and $56.00 of bank fees.
The $37,241.05 of undeposited collections includes checks issued to the District which were redeemed for cash or cash withheld from checks being deposited. Mosiman reported it was not possible to determine if additional collections were not properly deposited because adequate records for receipts were not available.

Mosiman also reported the District owed over $5,000.00 as of April 30, 2014 for retirement contributions.

The report includes a summary of changes implemented by IDALS in August 2013 as a result of the concerns identified. The report also includes recommendations to strengthen the District’s

internal controls and overall operations, such as improving segregation of duties and bank reconciliations prepared by a party independent of other financial duties.
Copies of the report have been filed with the Mahaska County Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, the Division of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. A copy of the report is available for review in the Office of Auditor of State and on the Auditor of State’s website at: http://auditor.iowa.gov/specials/1360-0090-BE00.pdf.