Audit 397219

Significant Deficiency 2025-001. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles United States Department of Education, Passed Through New York State, Department of Education: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies ALN: 84.010A Criteria: Salaries and wages charged to federal awards must be supported by documentation that meets the standards prescribed by the Uniform Guidance Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430. Condition: Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430 of the Uniform Guidance requires that charges to “Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed.” The documentation should support the distribution of the employee’s compensation among specific activities if the employee works on more than one federal award, or a federal award and non-federal award. The preparation of personnel activity reports (PAR) or periodic certifications or the equivalent is the most effective way to comply with this requirement. During the current year, the District prepared periodic certification equivalents, but it did not comply with the documentation standards prescribed in Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430; the amount of one employee’s actual payroll charged to the Title I federal award was less than the allocation percentage on the periodic certification reports that were signed by the employee’s supervisor. Cause: The staff who was responsible for maintaining records that accurately reflect the work performed, as described in Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430, to support salaries charged to federal awards, prepared semi-annual periodic certification reports using a different full time equivalent (FTE) allocation than what was reflected in the employee’s actual payroll records. The District’s internal procedures did not identify the discrepancy. Effect: Noncompliance could result in the incorrect amount for services rendered being charged to the federal award. Questioned Costs: Dollar amount undetermined. Context: The District maintains time records for employees charged to federal awards using a different FTE allocation than the employee’s actual payroll allocation. A total of 18 employees’ wages were charged to the Title I grant. Audit samples selected based on payroll transactions covered 9 of the employees. Condition was noted on payroll transactions for one of the 9 employees in the audit sample. Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: The District should revise its procedures to prepare documentation to support actual salaries and wages charged to federal awards after the work was performed in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance at Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430. Views of Responsible Officials of Auditee: The District will adopt procedures to ensure appropriate documentation will be prepared to comply with Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430.