Audit 371439

Condition: Procedures were not performed to verify that entities were not debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded prior to entering into covered transactions. Criteria: Federal award recipients and subrecipients are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transations to parties that are suspended or debarred. When a recipient or subrecipient enters into a covered transaction, they must verify that the entity is not suspended, debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. Cause: The staff responsible for verification was not aware of the requirement. Effect: Suspension and debarrment verification was not performed. Questioned Cost Amount: Not applicable. Context: During the fiscal year, the Town entered into covered contracts with eight parties, none of which were checked for suspension and debarment. Upon examination, it was found that the Town did not enter into any covered contracts with suspended or debared parties. Recommendation: We recommend that staff review federal grant agreements in detail to ensure compliance with federal requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Suspension and debarment verification checks will be perfomed on all covered contracts.