Audit 322513

FINDING 2023-004 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): FY2021 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Health Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-005. Condition and Context Recipients are required quarterly or annually to submit Project and Expenditure (P&E) reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). The reporting periods, as well as the respective due dates, are based upon type of recipient and its population, as well as the recipient's allocation amount. Information to be reported includes projects funded, expenditures, and contracts for the appropriate reporting period. The County was classified as a county with a population below 250,000 residents that are allocated more than $10 million in COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). As such, the P&E quarterly reports were to cover one calendar quarter and must be submitted to the Treasury by the last day of the month following the end of the period covered. The Couty's current policy and procedure for complying with reporting requirements is to have the Director of Operations prepare the P&E reports with assistance from his Administrative Assistant, and then the President of the Board of County Commissioners certifies the reports. The current internal control has been determined to be ineffective since the P&E reports do not agree with the County's financial records. The County submitted four P&E reports during the audit period; however, the errors, as identified below, were noted on all four reports.  Quarterly Report: October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 Current period expenditures reported 7 projects with errors totaling $77,234. Cumulative expenditures reported 22 projects with errors totaling $3,955,669.  Quarterly Report: January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 7 projects with errors totaling $173,169. Cumulative expenditures reported 25 projects with errors totaling $2,633,217.  Quarterly Report: April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 2 projects with errors totaling $0, since expenditures were posted to the incorrect project. Cumulative expenditures reported 24 projects with errors totaling $2,372,744.  Quarterly Report: July 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 3 projects with errors totaling $13,412. Cumulative expenditures reported 26 projects with errors totaling $2,273,749. The lack of effective internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the entire audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 31 CFR 35.4(c) states in part: "Reporting and requests for other information. During the period of performance, recipients shall provide to the Secretary periodic reports providing detailed accounting of the use of funds." Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Compliance and Reporting Guidance, page 10 states in part: ". . . 10. Reporting. All recipients of federal funds must complete financial, performance, and compliance reporting as required and outlined in Part 2 of this guidance. Expenditures may be reported on a cash or accrual basis, as long as the methodology is disclosed and consistently applied. Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1. Your organization should appropriately maintain accounting records for compiling and reporting accurate, compliance financial data, in accordance with appropriate accounting standards and principles. . . ." Cause The County's oversight process for filing the P&E reports did not detect errors. The errors were the result of including expenditures from the incorrect time periods. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. As such, the County did not report cumulative expenditures and current period expenditures properly when filing the P&E reports during the audit period. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. In addition, not meeting the SLFRF reporting requirements increases the likelihood that the public will not have access to transparent and accurate information regarding expenditures of federal awards. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the County strengthen its system of internal controls to provide for a segregation of duties in the preparation and review of federal reports to ensure appropriate reviews, approvals, and oversight are taking place. We also recommended the development of policies and procedures to ensure the County provides the Treasury with complete and accurate information for the P&E reports. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-005 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Subrecipient Monitoring Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): FY2021 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Health Compliance Requirement: Subrecipient Monitoring Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context The County expended $4,727,927 in COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) during the audit period. Of that amount, $939,554 was passed through to two subrecipients. As a pass-through entity, the County was required to identify the award and applicable requirements and monitor the subrecipients. Procedures to monitor its subrecipients included reviewing the quarterly financial and performance reports as required by the County through the Subrecipient Agreements. Both subrecipients submitted quarterly reports for Quarter 2 of 2023, covering the time period from April 1 through June 30. No other quarterly financial and performance reports were submitted to the County during the fiscal year. As part of the monitoring the County performed on the subrecipients in March 2023, it noted the subrecipients had been missing quarterly reports. Despite communications made by the County to obtain the missing quarterly reports, no other quarterly reports were submitted by the subrecipients. The lack of effective internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.332(d) states in part: "Monitor the activities of the subrecipient as necessary to ensure that the subaward is used for authorized purposes, in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the subaward; and that subaward performance goals are achieved. Pass-through entity monitoring of the subrecipient must include: (1) Reviewing the financial and performance reports required by the pass-through entity. . . ." Cause The County's agreements with the subrecipients included reporting requirements, but no procedures were in place to ensure timely and appropriate reporting occurred. The County's oversight process for monitoring subrecipient financial and performance reporting for the audit period did not include adequate follow-up procedures to ensure that required reports were submitted. Subrecipients did not submit the quarterly reports as requested by the County. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. The lack of sufficient internal controls resulted in the County only receiving one of the required quarterly financial and performance reports from its subrecipients during the year. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. In addition, not meeting the SLFRF subrecipient monitoring requirements increases the likelihood that County officials and the public will not have access to transparent and accurate information regarding expenditures of federal awards. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the County strengthen its system of internal controls to ensure that subrecipients are submitting their financial and performance reports timely and accurately, so that the County can comply with the Subrecipient Monitoring compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-004 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): FY2021 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Health Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-005. Condition and Context Recipients are required quarterly or annually to submit Project and Expenditure (P&E) reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). The reporting periods, as well as the respective due dates, are based upon type of recipient and its population, as well as the recipient's allocation amount. Information to be reported includes projects funded, expenditures, and contracts for the appropriate reporting period. The County was classified as a county with a population below 250,000 residents that are allocated more than $10 million in COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). As such, the P&E quarterly reports were to cover one calendar quarter and must be submitted to the Treasury by the last day of the month following the end of the period covered. The Couty's current policy and procedure for complying with reporting requirements is to have the Director of Operations prepare the P&E reports with assistance from his Administrative Assistant, and then the President of the Board of County Commissioners certifies the reports. The current internal control has been determined to be ineffective since the P&E reports do not agree with the County's financial records. The County submitted four P&E reports during the audit period; however, the errors, as identified below, were noted on all four reports.  Quarterly Report: October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 Current period expenditures reported 7 projects with errors totaling $77,234. Cumulative expenditures reported 22 projects with errors totaling $3,955,669.  Quarterly Report: January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 7 projects with errors totaling $173,169. Cumulative expenditures reported 25 projects with errors totaling $2,633,217.  Quarterly Report: April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 2 projects with errors totaling $0, since expenditures were posted to the incorrect project. Cumulative expenditures reported 24 projects with errors totaling $2,372,744.  Quarterly Report: July 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023 Current period expenditures reported 3 projects with errors totaling $13,412. Cumulative expenditures reported 26 projects with errors totaling $2,273,749. The lack of effective internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the entire audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 31 CFR 35.4(c) states in part: "Reporting and requests for other information. During the period of performance, recipients shall provide to the Secretary periodic reports providing detailed accounting of the use of funds." Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Compliance and Reporting Guidance, page 10 states in part: ". . . 10. Reporting. All recipients of federal funds must complete financial, performance, and compliance reporting as required and outlined in Part 2 of this guidance. Expenditures may be reported on a cash or accrual basis, as long as the methodology is disclosed and consistently applied. Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1. Your organization should appropriately maintain accounting records for compiling and reporting accurate, compliance financial data, in accordance with appropriate accounting standards and principles. . . ." Cause The County's oversight process for filing the P&E reports did not detect errors. The errors were the result of including expenditures from the incorrect time periods. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. As such, the County did not report cumulative expenditures and current period expenditures properly when filing the P&E reports during the audit period. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. In addition, not meeting the SLFRF reporting requirements increases the likelihood that the public will not have access to transparent and accurate information regarding expenditures of federal awards. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the County strengthen its system of internal controls to provide for a segregation of duties in the preparation and review of federal reports to ensure appropriate reviews, approvals, and oversight are taking place. We also recommended the development of policies and procedures to ensure the County provides the Treasury with complete and accurate information for the P&E reports. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-005 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Subrecipient Monitoring Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): FY2021 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Health Compliance Requirement: Subrecipient Monitoring Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context The County expended $4,727,927 in COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) during the audit period. Of that amount, $939,554 was passed through to two subrecipients. As a pass-through entity, the County was required to identify the award and applicable requirements and monitor the subrecipients. Procedures to monitor its subrecipients included reviewing the quarterly financial and performance reports as required by the County through the Subrecipient Agreements. Both subrecipients submitted quarterly reports for Quarter 2 of 2023, covering the time period from April 1 through June 30. No other quarterly financial and performance reports were submitted to the County during the fiscal year. As part of the monitoring the County performed on the subrecipients in March 2023, it noted the subrecipients had been missing quarterly reports. Despite communications made by the County to obtain the missing quarterly reports, no other quarterly reports were submitted by the subrecipients. The lack of effective internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.332(d) states in part: "Monitor the activities of the subrecipient as necessary to ensure that the subaward is used for authorized purposes, in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the subaward; and that subaward performance goals are achieved. Pass-through entity monitoring of the subrecipient must include: (1) Reviewing the financial and performance reports required by the pass-through entity. . . ." Cause The County's agreements with the subrecipients included reporting requirements, but no procedures were in place to ensure timely and appropriate reporting occurred. The County's oversight process for monitoring subrecipient financial and performance reporting for the audit period did not include adequate follow-up procedures to ensure that required reports were submitted. Subrecipients did not submit the quarterly reports as requested by the County. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. The lack of sufficient internal controls resulted in the County only receiving one of the required quarterly financial and performance reports from its subrecipients during the year. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. In addition, not meeting the SLFRF subrecipient monitoring requirements increases the likelihood that County officials and the public will not have access to transparent and accurate information regarding expenditures of federal awards. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the County strengthen its system of internal controls to ensure that subrecipients are submitting their financial and performance reports timely and accurately, so that the County can comply with the Subrecipient Monitoring compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.