Finding - District controls did not always ensure compliance with the Davis‑Bacon Act for construction projects exceeding $2,000 and financed by the ES Fund, resulting in questioned costs totaling $677,890.
Criteria - The ES Fund provides Federal funds for school facility repairs and improvements. Title 29, Section 5.5, Code of Federal Regulations (Davis-Bacon Act), requires the District to include prevailing wage rate clauses in any construction contract exceeding $2,000 that is financed either wholly or in part by Federal funds and ensure that contractors pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. This includes a requirement for the contractor to submit to the District weekly, for each week in which any contract work is performed, a copy of the payroll and a statement of compliance (certified payrolls). The United States Department of Labor established “prevailing wages” by geographic area and interprets the Davis-Bacon Act to apply to construction, alteration, or repair of a public building or public work.
Condition - For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the District expended ES Fund moneys totaling $9,501,131, including $677,890 for five contracts (each exceeding $2,000) related to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning replacement, gym flooring replacement, and door replacements. The purchase orders, requests for proposals, and contracts for those services did not contain clauses that required compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act provisions and the contractors did not submit required weekly certified payrolls to the District.
Cause - District personnel indicated that they were not aware that the Davis-Bacon Act applied to these Federally funded projects and, therefore, did not include the appropriate wage rate clauses in the applicable procurement documents.
Effect - Absent the required contract clauses and weekly certified payrolls, there is an increased risk that construction contractors paid with Federal moneys will not pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. Although we requested, the District did not provide certified payrolls from the contractors demonstrating that the prevailing wage rates were paid for the services, resulting in questioned costs totaling $677,890.
Recommendation - The District should enhance procedures to ensure compliance with all Davis‑Bacon Act requirements. Such enhancements should ensure that applicable Federally funded facility contracts require submittal of weekly certified payrolls and that District personnel verify the payrolls were received. In addition, the District should document to the FDOE the allowability of the questioned costs or contact the FDOE regarding necessary corrective action.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act.
Finding - District controls did not always ensure compliance with Federal regulations by properly expending Federal Hurricane Education Recovery Program funds, resulting in questioned costs totaling $325,202.
Criteria - Title 2, Section 200.403(a), CFR, requires that allowable costs under Federal awards must be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award. In addition, Public Law 109-148 established the Hurricane Education Recovery Program and specifies in Section 102(e)(3)(A) that funding may not be used for construction or major renovations of school buildings.
Condition - During the 2022-23 fiscal year, District Hurricane Education Recovery Program expenditures totaled $1,230,221, and included four payments totaling $325,202 for construction or major renovation of school facilities. Specifically, a payment for $199,500 was made for the roof replacement of a District building, and three additional payments, totaling $125,702, were made for architectural and engineering services related to the construction of the new Gadsden County K-8 School. Additionally, the approved grant application only included temporary repairs to the roof, including tarping and cleanup of water damage and did not include any architectural or engineering services.
Cause - Due to staff turnover and the subsequent reassignment of duties, the District grant director lacked Hurricane Education Recovery Program experience. In response to our inquiry, District staff indicated that the Program expenditures were allowable for District site and facilities that were not damaged before the hurricane. Notwithstanding, District staff did not provide documentation from the grantor supporting allowability and the expenditures are explicitly unallowed by the Public Law.
Effect - Absent effective procedures to ensure that grant funds are expended only for allowable uses, there is an increased risk that funds will be misused. Since District records did not support the allowability of these costs, the District incurred questioned costs totaling $325,202.
Recommendation - The District should help ensure that Hurricane Education Recovery Program expenditures are only for allowable purposes by providing appropriate training for the Program grant director. In addition, the District should document to the FDOE the allowability of the questioned costs or contact the FDOE regarding necessary corrective action.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the Federal Hurricane Education Recovery Program.
Finding - District property records did not demonstrate compliance with Federal regulations by identifying the location of certain equipment funded by the ES Fund, resulting in questioned costs totaling $213,936.
Criteria - Title 2, Section 200.313(d)(1), Code of Federal Regulations, requires that property records for equipment be maintained that include various details, such as a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the Federal award identification number), the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property.
Title 2, Section 200.313(a), CFR, defines equipment as tangible property, including information technology systems, having a useful life of one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization threshold established by District. According to Board Policy 7.77 – Inventories and Property Records, the Superintendent or designee must maintain an adequate and accurate record of all tangible personal property of the District. All equipment must be listed that has a value or cost of $1,000 or more.
Condition - During the 2022-23 fiscal year, District ES Fund expenditures totaled $9,501,131, including $213,936 expended for capitalized equipment with a value or cost of $1,000 or more. As part of our audit, we requested for examination District records supporting 14 selected items with costs exceeding the District $1,000 capitalization threshold and totaling $213,936. However, no records were provided to identify the equipment serial number, source of funding, condition, location, or otherwise properly account for the 14 items.
Cause - District personnel indicated that the missing property information was an oversight as the employee responsible for recording property items was not timely provided with the appropriate acquisition information.
Effect - Without effective accountability over Federal equipment, including the maintenance of appropriate property records, there is an increased risk that the equipment may be used for unauthorized purposes or not be readily located or identified as missing. Absent the required detailed property records, the ES Fund equipment acquisitions totaling $213,936 represent questioned costs.
Recommendation - The District should conduct a thorough investigation of the ESSER Fund capital outlay expenditures to identify equipment acquisitions with costs exceeding the District $1,000 capitalization threshold, locate the applicable items, and prepare and maintain appropriate property records for those items. In addition, the District should restore to the FDOE the questioned costs related to any unlocated items and contact applicable law enforcement agencies regarding other necessary actions to help recover unlocated equipment.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the ES Fund.
Finding - District controls did not always ensure compliance with the Davis‑Bacon Act for construction projects exceeding $2,000 and financed by the ES Fund, resulting in questioned costs totaling $677,890.
Criteria - The ES Fund provides Federal funds for school facility repairs and improvements. Title 29, Section 5.5, Code of Federal Regulations (Davis-Bacon Act), requires the District to include prevailing wage rate clauses in any construction contract exceeding $2,000 that is financed either wholly or in part by Federal funds and ensure that contractors pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. This includes a requirement for the contractor to submit to the District weekly, for each week in which any contract work is performed, a copy of the payroll and a statement of compliance (certified payrolls). The United States Department of Labor established “prevailing wages” by geographic area and interprets the Davis-Bacon Act to apply to construction, alteration, or repair of a public building or public work.
Condition - For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the District expended ES Fund moneys totaling $9,501,131, including $677,890 for five contracts (each exceeding $2,000) related to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning replacement, gym flooring replacement, and door replacements. The purchase orders, requests for proposals, and contracts for those services did not contain clauses that required compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act provisions and the contractors did not submit required weekly certified payrolls to the District.
Cause - District personnel indicated that they were not aware that the Davis-Bacon Act applied to these Federally funded projects and, therefore, did not include the appropriate wage rate clauses in the applicable procurement documents.
Effect - Absent the required contract clauses and weekly certified payrolls, there is an increased risk that construction contractors paid with Federal moneys will not pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. Although we requested, the District did not provide certified payrolls from the contractors demonstrating that the prevailing wage rates were paid for the services, resulting in questioned costs totaling $677,890.
Recommendation - The District should enhance procedures to ensure compliance with all Davis‑Bacon Act requirements. Such enhancements should ensure that applicable Federally funded facility contracts require submittal of weekly certified payrolls and that District personnel verify the payrolls were received. In addition, the District should document to the FDOE the allowability of the questioned costs or contact the FDOE regarding necessary corrective action.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act.
Finding - District controls did not always ensure compliance with Federal regulations by properly expending Federal Hurricane Education Recovery Program funds, resulting in questioned costs totaling $325,202.
Criteria - Title 2, Section 200.403(a), CFR, requires that allowable costs under Federal awards must be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award. In addition, Public Law 109-148 established the Hurricane Education Recovery Program and specifies in Section 102(e)(3)(A) that funding may not be used for construction or major renovations of school buildings.
Condition - During the 2022-23 fiscal year, District Hurricane Education Recovery Program expenditures totaled $1,230,221, and included four payments totaling $325,202 for construction or major renovation of school facilities. Specifically, a payment for $199,500 was made for the roof replacement of a District building, and three additional payments, totaling $125,702, were made for architectural and engineering services related to the construction of the new Gadsden County K-8 School. Additionally, the approved grant application only included temporary repairs to the roof, including tarping and cleanup of water damage and did not include any architectural or engineering services.
Cause - Due to staff turnover and the subsequent reassignment of duties, the District grant director lacked Hurricane Education Recovery Program experience. In response to our inquiry, District staff indicated that the Program expenditures were allowable for District site and facilities that were not damaged before the hurricane. Notwithstanding, District staff did not provide documentation from the grantor supporting allowability and the expenditures are explicitly unallowed by the Public Law.
Effect - Absent effective procedures to ensure that grant funds are expended only for allowable uses, there is an increased risk that funds will be misused. Since District records did not support the allowability of these costs, the District incurred questioned costs totaling $325,202.
Recommendation - The District should help ensure that Hurricane Education Recovery Program expenditures are only for allowable purposes by providing appropriate training for the Program grant director. In addition, the District should document to the FDOE the allowability of the questioned costs or contact the FDOE regarding necessary corrective action.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the Federal Hurricane Education Recovery Program.
Finding - District property records did not demonstrate compliance with Federal regulations by identifying the location of certain equipment funded by the ES Fund, resulting in questioned costs totaling $213,936.
Criteria - Title 2, Section 200.313(d)(1), Code of Federal Regulations, requires that property records for equipment be maintained that include various details, such as a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the Federal award identification number), the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property.
Title 2, Section 200.313(a), CFR, defines equipment as tangible property, including information technology systems, having a useful life of one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization threshold established by District. According to Board Policy 7.77 – Inventories and Property Records, the Superintendent or designee must maintain an adequate and accurate record of all tangible personal property of the District. All equipment must be listed that has a value or cost of $1,000 or more.
Condition - During the 2022-23 fiscal year, District ES Fund expenditures totaled $9,501,131, including $213,936 expended for capitalized equipment with a value or cost of $1,000 or more. As part of our audit, we requested for examination District records supporting 14 selected items with costs exceeding the District $1,000 capitalization threshold and totaling $213,936. However, no records were provided to identify the equipment serial number, source of funding, condition, location, or otherwise properly account for the 14 items.
Cause - District personnel indicated that the missing property information was an oversight as the employee responsible for recording property items was not timely provided with the appropriate acquisition information.
Effect - Without effective accountability over Federal equipment, including the maintenance of appropriate property records, there is an increased risk that the equipment may be used for unauthorized purposes or not be readily located or identified as missing. Absent the required detailed property records, the ES Fund equipment acquisitions totaling $213,936 represent questioned costs.
Recommendation - The District should conduct a thorough investigation of the ESSER Fund capital outlay expenditures to identify equipment acquisitions with costs exceeding the District $1,000 capitalization threshold, locate the applicable items, and prepare and maintain appropriate property records for those items. In addition, the District should restore to the FDOE the questioned costs related to any unlocated items and contact applicable law enforcement agencies regarding other necessary actions to help recover unlocated equipment.
District Response - The District confirms the audit finding and will implement policies and procedures, as well as staff training, to ensure compliance with the ES Fund.