The Missouri State Auditorannounced on Monday that it has begun a petition audit of the City of Willard following a citizen petition, and auditors will start requesting records and interviewing city staff in coming days.

John Leeser, audit manager with the state auditoroffice, told the Willard Board of Alders that the audit stems from a petition process under Chapter 29 of state law and that the auditoroffice is "compelled to do an audit." He said the office typically scopes petition audits to the most recently completed fiscal year; for Willard that would be the year ending Dec. 31, 2024.

Leeser said the officewill evaluate internal controls, compliance with legal provisions and the economy and efficiency of certain management practices. He described typical audit work that includes reviewing minutes, financial records and written policies and interviewing personnel. "We plan very soon within the coming days to begin making inquiries with city officials and beginning our review of records," Leeser said.

Why it matters: petition audits are public, can be costly for a small city and can prompt administrative or legal follow-up. Residents said they sought the audit after revelations about a former mayor.

Resident Angie Wilson told the board she and other Willard residents worked for months to collect signatures that triggered the audit. "The Missouri State Auditor's office announced back in November that it would conduct a state audit of the city of Willard following receipt of 406 petition audit signatures verified by the Greene County Clerk's Office," Wilson said during public comment. She said petitioners hoped the audit would "ease the mind of residents and allow Willard to truly move forward."

Leeser gave the board an estimated cost range for the audit of $80,000 to $125,000 and said audits like this often require weeks to months of fieldwork. He said fieldwork often takes two to three months, followed by internal review and drafting the report, which can add another several months.

During a question-and-answer period, Leeser said the office may perform limited procedures for periods prior to 2024 if risks warrant that work, and that the office would notify the city if it proposed to expand the auditscope or revise objectives. He also said the office follows Government Auditing Standards issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

Leeser said petitioners can submit concerns to the auditor via the office website and that the auditor will consider petitioners' concerns in designing audit procedures. He warned that if the office decides to expand scope to earlier years it may need to revisit its estimated cost range.

Board action and next steps: The State Auditornotified the board during the meeting and said auditors would soon contact city officials to schedule records review and interviews. No board vote was required to begin the audit.

The audit manager said the office expects to issue a draft report when fieldwork and internal review are complete; the city would get an opportunity to respond to draft findings before a final public report is published.

Ending: City officials and petitioners will hear from the State Auditor's Office directly as auditors begin fieldwork; the city can expect follow-up notices describing specific document requests and tentative timeframes for on-site work.