State cites improper accounting as reason for Marble Hill license office contract termination

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A contract between the Missouri Department of Revenue and an agent operating the Marble Hill license office was terminated Monday, when a department spokesman announced that transactions at the office weren't being handled properly.

The state contract was canceled with Richard Vangennip, an agent with the Marble Hill office since 2005. The office, at 606 Highway 34 West, will remain closed until the Missouri Office of Administration names a new agent.

"Although this action may inconvenience some customers, it's vital that the department hold agents accountable so that customers can be confident that their local offices are being run in an efficient manner," Missouri Department of Revenue director Alana M. Barragan-Scott said in a news release issued Monday.

Ted Farnen, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue, said Vangennip was engaging in a practice called lapping, an accounting mishap he said happens when receipts from business at the license office one day don't match the transactions that actually took place. Farnen said the agent was using receipts from one day to cover transactions for a different day.

He said he didn't know exactly how many times it had occurred.

"Even if you have an agent and a manager, the agent, who the state contracted with, is supposed to have a good working knowledge to do all the transactions themselves," Farnen said. "Our department felt that that was not always the case with the current agent."

The Marble Hill office, one of the state's smaller offices, had an estimated 19,869 transactions and about $66,962 in agent fees processed during fiscal year 2010, the news release said. The largest office in the state, in Columbia, Mo., processed 200,000 transactions, worth about $680,000 in agent fees in fiscal year 2009, according to Farnen.

Attempts Monday to contact Vangennip were unsuccessful.

Farnen anticipates the Office of Administration will request proposals for new bidders to operate the Marble Hill office late this week or the beginning of next week. A copy of the proposal bidders will use can be viewed at www.moolb.mo.gov.

Before Gov. Jay Nixon took office, Farnen said, the governor chose agents to run the state's 183 licensing offices.

License office customers in the Marble Hill and Bollinger County area are encouraged to do business at other area offices, including Cape Girardeau, Chaffee, Fredericktown, Jackson and Perryville.

A list of all license offices is available at www.dor.mo.gov/offloc.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

606 Highway 34 West, Marble Hill, MO

Other area license offices

• Cape Girardeau, 112 S. Spanish St.: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the last Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Chaffee, 129 S. Main St.: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the last Saturday of the month, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Jackson, 125 E. Main St.: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the last Saturday of the month, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Perryville, 624 N. Old St. Mary's Road: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the last Saturday of the month, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.