Audit 398399

Criteria or specific requirement: The compliance requirements for "A. Activities Allowed and Unallowed", requires the District to conform to the itemized budgets which were filed with and approved by ISBE. Condition: The District claimed expenditures that were incurred outside of the applicable periods of performance. Cause: The District's internal controls over compliance were not functioning effectively to ensure reimbursements were claimed for only expenditures incurred within the applicable periods of performance. Effect: The District was not in compliance with the period of performance compliance requirement. Questioned Costs: The following questioned costs were computed based on differences between the amounts claimed for reimbursement by the District and its expenditure accounting records for the applicable periods of performance: $127,741 (Project No. 25-4300-00) $1,185 (Project No. 25-4331-00) Context: The condition noted was identified upon reconciling reimbursements claimed by the District to the general ledger accounts in which related expenditures were recorded, for the applicable periods of performance, and investigation of differences identified. Recommendation: We recommend that the District strengthen grant management controls by implementing procedures to ensure all expenditures claimed for reimbursement are incurred within the applicable period of performance. This should include tracking grant period dates, reconciling expenditures to allowable timeframes prior to claiming, and management review of all reimbursement requests. Management's response: The District agrees with the auditor's finding and recommendation.

Criteria or specific requirement: Per Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) Subpart D, Post Federal Award Requirements Section 200.303, Internal controls, the recipient must establish, document and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Per 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E, Cost Principles, the accounting practices of the recipient must be consistent with the cost principles and support the accumulation of costs as required by the cost principles, including maintaining adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition: The District claimed expenditures that did not have adequate supporting documentation, such as invoices, receipts, purchase orders and proof of payment. Cause: The District's internal controls over compliance were not functioning effectively to ensure reimbursements were claimed for only actual expenditures incurred and supported by adequate documentation. Effect: The District was not in compliance with the allowable costs/cost principles compliance requirement. Questioned Costs: The following questioned costs were computed based on differences between the amounts claimed for reimbursement by the District and its expenditure accounting records: $1,185 (Project No. 24-4300-00) $10,423 (Project No. 25-4331-00) Context: The condition noted was identified upon reconciling reimbursements claimed by the District to the general ledger accounts in which related expenditures were recorded and investigation of differences identified. Recommendation: We recommend the District strengthen internal controls to ensure all expenditures charged to federal programs are supported by proper documentation prior to being submitted for reimbursement. Documentation should be retained in accordance with federal record retention requirements. Management's response: The District agrees with the auditor's finding and recommendation.

Criteria or specific requirement :Per Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) Subpart D, Post Federal Award Requirements Section 200.303, Internal controls, the recipient must establish, document and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. The requirements for activities allowed or unallowed are contained in program legislation, federal awarding agency regulations, and the terms and conditions of the award. Condition: The District incurred program expenditures that were not charged in accordance with the approved grant budget. Cause: The District's internal controls over compliance were not functioning effectively to ensure program expenditures were compliant with the activities allowed or unallowed compliance requirement. Effect: The District was not in compliance with the activities allowed or unallowed compliance requirement. Questioned Costs:The following questioned costs were computed based on exceptions identified in the activities allowed or unallowed compliance testing performed: $10,016 (Project No. 25-4300-00) Context: From the population of non-payroll expenditures totaling $1,230,248, a sample of forty (40) transactions totaling $123,816 were selected for testing, from which two (2) transactions totaling $10,016 were considered exceptions. A statistically valid sample was not utilized. Recommendation: We recommend that the District strengthen controls over expenditure coding and grant claiming processes by ensuring invoices are reviewed against the approved budget detail prior to claiming. This should include management review and periodic reconciliation of claimed expenditures to the grant budget. Management's response: The District agrees with the auditor's finding and recommendation.