Notes to SEFA
The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) is a component unit of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Government and was established as a public corporation by CNMI Public Law 4-47, as amended and has the powers of a body corporate, as defined in the act and local statutes. Only the transactions of CUC are included within the scope of the Single Audit.
The accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (the Schedule) includes the federal award activity of CUC under programs of the federal government for the year ended September 30, 2023. The information in this Schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the operations of CUC, it is not intended to and does not present the financial position, changes in net position or cash flows of CUC.
Basis of Accounting Expenditures reported on the Schedule are reported on the accrual basis of accounting, consistent with the manner in which CUC maintains its accounting records. All expenses and capital outlays are reported as expenditures. Such expenditures are recognized following the cost principles contained in the Uniform Guidance, wherein certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Pass-through entity identifying numbers are presented where available. CUC recognizes contributions from the federal government when qualifying expenditures are incurred. Indirect Costs CUC does not have an indirect cost negotiation agreement and does not elect to use the de-minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance. Matching Costs The 10 percent non-federal share of ALN 97.036 with other grant identifier number FEMA-4235-DR-MP is not included in the accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. The 25 percent non-federal share of ALN 97.036 with other grant identifier number FEMA-4396-DR-MP is not included in the accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. The 10 percent non-federal share of ALN 97.036 with other grant identifier number FEMA-4404-DR-MP is not included in the accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. The 20 percent non-federal share of ALN 11.307 is not included in the accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards.
Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), particularly those under the Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) program, are typically not available at the onset of a disaster, as eligibility is contingent upon a presidential disaster declaration. CUC has a responsibility to safeguard and restore its fixed assets in the event of a disaster, regardless of grant eligibility. As such, CUC proceeded with necessary expenditures and later applied for FEMA assistance. The funds were received as reimbursements for costs already incurred. Although the reimbursement did not represent a current-year expenditure, it was included in the Schedule to ensure consistency with the disbursed federal funds and to facilitate tracking by the cognizant agency.