Audit 393597

Condition: Three contractors were selected for testing procurement, suspension and debarment. Our testing for procurement, suspension, and debarment indicated that there were no documented policies and procedures in place for procurement under the federal award. Furthermore, we noted there was no documentation for the verification of suspension and debarment for the contractors selected for testing. Criteria: Procurement, suspension and debarment regulations under 2 CFR should be followed. Cause: No written policies and procedures in place for procurement, suspension and debarment under the federal award. Effect: Noncompliance with the federal award program’s procurement, suspension and debarment compliance requirements could occur and not be detected and corrected timely. Recommendation: We recommend Visit Baltimore, Inc. and Subsidiary adopt a procurement, suspension and debarment policy and establish procedures to ensure the policy is consistently followed. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Visit Baltimore, Inc. and Subsidiary has adopted written procurement, suspension and debarment policies in accordance with 2 CFR requirements. Procedures have been implemented to verify and document contractor eligibility through the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to engagement to ensure ongoing compliance.

Condition: During our testing of reporting, we noted the expenditures reported in the monthly performance reports submitted to the City of Baltimore did not agree to the underlying accounting records. Criteria: The Uniform Guidance requires organizations to establish internal controls to detect potential noncompliance. Cause: While all monthly performance reports were submitted timely and reviewed by the appropriate level of management, there were misstatements in the underlying accounting for federal awards. Effect: Expenditures reported on the monthly performance reports were inaccurate. Recommendation: We recommend that management implement control procedures to ensure the federal award subsidiary ledger is appropriate and complete prior to report submission. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Visit Baltimore, Inc. and Subsidiary has implemented procedures to reconcile the federal award subsidiary ledger to the general ledger prior to submission of monthly performance reports. Additional review controls have been established to ensure reported expenditures agree to the underlying accounting records.