State audit alleges Missouri mayor misused city funds for personal expenses

A former mayor of Excelsior Estates allegedly used city funds to improperly pay himself more than $37,000 and may have funneled more than $200,000 to businesses he owned, according to a state audit report released Tuesday.

The Missouri State Auditor’s Office said that during his time as both mayor and city administrator, Gary Fesenmeyer Sr. improperly transferred and issued checks from city funds to himself and his two businesses: CAD Midwest, Inc. and Video Sewer Inspection, Inc. (VSI).

Fesenmeyer paid himself and his two businesses approximately $306,000 with no supporting documents for around $202,000 of those payments from January 1, 2014, through April 30, 2021, the audit claims.

The payments were questionable due to their timing and the likelihood they were for personal use, the report said.

“Unfortunately for the people of Excelsior Estates, our audit reveals a pattern of persistent mismanagement that has wasted an enormous amount of their tax dollars with no discernible benefit for them or their city,” Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Fesenmeyer was able to make the payments to himself because the city failed to have proper oversight and seperation of duties, the report says. Some of the city’s Board of Alderman members told auditors they had concerns regarding the payments, but failed to take timely action to address them or review the transactions.

The report details the city’s poor procedures for receipting, recording, and depositing money. During the investigation, Excelsior Estates city officials could not find receipt slips, bank statements, and supporting documents for expenses, including payments to Fesenmeyer and his two businesses.

The city stored some of its records in disarray in a makeshift trailer made from the bed of a pickup truck with a camper shell on it, the report said.

Investigators found that while the city was paying Fesenmeyer’s sewer business, VSI, from 2014 through at least 2021, the city repeatedly violated the Missouri Clean Water Law. The city also failed to complete an audit of its sewer system from 2018 through 2022, as required by state law.

After the city terminated Fesenmeyer and stopped using his sewer business, the city became compliant with applicable clean water laws, the report said.

The city also failed to file and publish annual financial reports in compliance with state law, the report said.

Excelsior Estates incurred $500 in overdraft and maintenance charges in the city’s general bank account from July 2019 through April 2021, the report said. Shortly before Fesenmeyer was terminated, the city’s general bank account balance sat at $87.

The report also details the city’s alleged violations of other state laws and the Missouri Constitution, including the Missouri Sunshine Law.

No one from the city of Excelsior Estates was immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick said in a news release that the city’s current board of alderman is working in good faith with the state to put necessary changes in place. The audit began with a whistleblower complaint to the state auditor’s office.

“It’s unfortunate this was able to go on for as long as it did but I’m glad we were able to shine a light on the many problems that took place in Excelsior Estates as we try to make sure these same mistakes don’t happen in the future,” he said in a news release.