State audit finds no evidence of fraud in Willard city government

An audit of the City of Willard has been conducted after much trouble in the local government, including legal issues with former mayor and alderman Corey Hendrickson, who was charged and convicted in federal court with wire fraud and identity theft. He embezzled about $300,000 from his former employer in 2024.
 
The audit of the city found no instances of fraud, but it did turn up other areas where the city needs to focus efforts.
 
"I know the people of Willard were concerned that the fraud perpetrated by Corey Hendrickson at his place of employment may have spilled over to the city, but our audit of the city has found no evidence that he misused taxpayer dollars," said State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. "There are, however, many areas where the city can improve the way it operates and that includes city officials taking action to mitigate the extreme amount of water the city's system is losing each year. In order to keep utility rates down for its citizens, the city needs to figure out why it is losing tens of millions of gallons of water each year, and take steps to keep that from happening in the future."
 
Water loss discovered
The audit report states that, in 2024, the city of Willard has high amounts of water losses, losing nearly 72.7 million gallons, or 24 percent of the total 300.6 million gallons it pumped. 
 
The next year, that number ballooned to more than 82 million gallons lost of a total 315 million gallons pumped.
 
Most states set acceptable losses at 10-15 percent, in Missouri, the acceptable loss is 10 percent. 
 
“The City has already begun implementing many of the recommendations contained in the report, while others were already in progress during the audit process,” read a release from the City of Willard in response to the audit. “One significant area of focus is reducing water loss within the City's utility system. As part of its corrective action plan, the City has committed future funding to leak detection, infrastructure improvements, and other measures intended to reduce water loss and strengthen the reliability of the City's water system.”
 
 
Procedural issues
The audit also found a lack of procedure for collecting outstanding balances on old and inactive utility accounts. 
 
The audit report states that 324 utility accounts, totaling more than $41,000 had disconnected and had balances more than 90 days past due as of March 3, 2026. The report continues, stating that city personnel had submitted 135 such accounts, in the amount of $20,342 to a collection agency but neglected to do so with 95 other accounts that met collection criteria, totaling more than $14,000.
 
 
Payroll issues
The city also did not report allowances paid to the city administrators as taxable income on W-2 forms. The city’s personnel manual also reportedly does not adequately address holiday pay as some employees used more holiday leave than was allowed by city policy.
 
Checks, records issues
The report also stated that the city failed to follow up on old, outstanding checks and had paid sales tax on some purchases that were tax exempt. The city also failed to consistently comply with the Missouri Sunshine Law and did not keep comprehensive records of open and closed session meetings.
 
In all, the city was given a rating of fair in the audit. Passable, but still the second worse rating that can be dished out.
 
In a release after the results were made available, the city of Willard confirmed its commitment to rectifying these issues.
 
“We appreciate the work performed by the Missouri State Auditor and the professionalism of the audit team throughout this process,” said Mayor Troy Smith. “The audit provides valuable recommendations that will help us continue strengthening our operations, and we welcome that guidance. Just as importantly, the expanded review confirmed there was no evidence of fraud or misuse of public funds. Our Board and staff remain committed to responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, transparency, and continually improving the services we provide to our residents."