FA 2023-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures
Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed
Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
Cash Management
Program Income
Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency
Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance
Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education
AL Number and Title: COVID-19 – 84.425U – American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Federal Award Number: S425U210012
Questioned Costs: $309,623
Description:
The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program.
Background Information:
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.
ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $18,867,709 were expended and reported on the Clarke County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2023.
Criteria:
As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls.
Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…”
In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 202.403 – Reasonable Costs state that “a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm’s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award… (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award’s cost.”
Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.305(b)(5) state that “To the extent available, the non-Federal entity must disburse funds available from program income… before requesting additional cash payments.”
Lastly, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.307(e)(1) state that “ordinarily program income must be deducted from total allowable costs to determine the net allowable costs. Program income must be used for current costs unless the Federal awarding agency authorizes otherwise…”
Condition:
Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ESSER funds were utilized to cover after-school program expenditures that exceeded net allowable costs. The School District incurred $1,765,203 in expenditures and received $913,744 in program income related to the after-school program. Based upon this activity, the net allowable costs that could have been funded by the ESSER program totaled $851,459; however, the School District received $1,161,082 in ESSER funding for this purpose during the period under review. Therefore, expenditures totaling $309,623 were deemed unallowable for the ESSER program, and it was noted that excessive cash drawdowns in this same amount were made.
Questioned Costs:
Known questioned costs of $309,623 identified for unallowable expenditures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs.
Cause:
Per management personnel, schools experienced a significant shortfall in revenue with the closure of schools due to the pandemic. By covering the after-school program payroll with ESSER funds, the School District was attempting to reestablish a fund balance for their after-school program, which should be self-sustaining, and was unaware that they could not use ESSER funds to accomplish this.
Effect:
The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures.
Recommendation:
The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are allowable and program income is expended prior to requesting additional cash payments from federal funds. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with applicable policies and procedures.
Views of Responsible Officials:
We concur with this finding.
FA 2023-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures
Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed
Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
Cash Management
Program Income
Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency
Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance
Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education
AL Number and Title: COVID-19 – 84.425U – American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Federal Award Number: S425U210012
Questioned Costs: $309,623
Description:
The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program.
Background Information:
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.
ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $18,867,709 were expended and reported on the Clarke County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2023.
Criteria:
As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls.
Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…”
In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 202.403 – Reasonable Costs state that “a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm’s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award… (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award’s cost.”
Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.305(b)(5) state that “To the extent available, the non-Federal entity must disburse funds available from program income… before requesting additional cash payments.”
Lastly, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.307(e)(1) state that “ordinarily program income must be deducted from total allowable costs to determine the net allowable costs. Program income must be used for current costs unless the Federal awarding agency authorizes otherwise…”
Condition:
Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ESSER funds were utilized to cover after-school program expenditures that exceeded net allowable costs. The School District incurred $1,765,203 in expenditures and received $913,744 in program income related to the after-school program. Based upon this activity, the net allowable costs that could have been funded by the ESSER program totaled $851,459; however, the School District received $1,161,082 in ESSER funding for this purpose during the period under review. Therefore, expenditures totaling $309,623 were deemed unallowable for the ESSER program, and it was noted that excessive cash drawdowns in this same amount were made.
Questioned Costs:
Known questioned costs of $309,623 identified for unallowable expenditures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs.
Cause:
Per management personnel, schools experienced a significant shortfall in revenue with the closure of schools due to the pandemic. By covering the after-school program payroll with ESSER funds, the School District was attempting to reestablish a fund balance for their after-school program, which should be self-sustaining, and was unaware that they could not use ESSER funds to accomplish this.
Effect:
The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures.
Recommendation:
The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are allowable and program income is expended prior to requesting additional cash payments from federal funds. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with applicable policies and procedures.
Views of Responsible Officials:
We concur with this finding.