Reference Number: 2022-001 Prior Year Finding: Yes – 2021-001 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: Emergency Solutions Grant Program ALN Number: 14.231 Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Type of Finding: Material Weakness, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: As per § 200.318 General procurement standards. (a) The Non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations and the standards of this section, for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward. The non-Federal entity's documented procurement procedures must conform to the procurement standards identified in §§ 200.317 through 200.327. (d) The Non-Federal entity must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurement. These records will include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: Rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. Condition: Based on our review of the Procurement compliance requirements, we noted that the Division has written procurement policies and competitive policies as required by CFR § 200.318 General procurement standards. We selected five (5) vendors for procurement Suspension and Debarment compliance testing of total population of 5 vendors subject to procurement and we were not provided with Procurement comparative bids therefore, we were unable: • To verify that the procurement method used was appropriate based on the dollar amount and conditions specified in 2 CFR section 200.320. • To Verify that procurements provide full and open competition (2 CFR section 200.319 and 48 CFR section 52.244-5). Cause: The Division did not ensured that as a non-Federal entity must have and must use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, and local laws and regulations and the standards of §§ 200.318 through 200.327, for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward. Effect: The funding agency can reject the expenditures incurred by the Division on certain vendors where the Division must use procurement method appropriately based on the dollar amount and conditions specified in 2 CFR section 200.320. Questioned costs: Cannot be determined Recommendation: We recommend that the Division must: • Use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, and local, laws and regulations and the standards, for the acquisition of property or services required under a federal award or subaward. • The Division must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurement. These records should include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: Rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. Views of responsible officials: The Division will work with Territorial Headquarters to document procedures as outlined in the Recommendations above. See corrective action plan.
Reference Number: 2022-002 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: Emergency Solutions Grant Program ALN Number: 14.231 Compliance Requirement: Equipment and Real Property Management Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency, Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance Requirements- Equipment Management -- Grants and Cooperative Agreements Equipment means tangible personal property, including information technology systems, having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-federal entity for financial statement purposes or $5,000 (2 CFR section 200.1). Title to equipment acquired by a non-federal entity under grants and cooperative agreements vests in the non-federal entity subject to certain obligations and conditions (2 CFR section 200.313(a)). Non-federal entities other than states must follow 2 CFR sections 200.313(c) through (e) which require that: (b) Property records must be maintained that include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the federal award identification number), who holds title, the acquisition date, cost of the property, percentage of federal participation in the project costs for the federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property (2 CFR section 200.313(d)(1)). (c) A physical inventory of the property must be taken and the results reconciled with the property records at least once every two years (2 CFR section 200.313(d)(2)). Condition: Based on our review of the Equipment and Real Property Management compliance requirements, we noted that the Division has written policies regarding Equipment and Real property management. We noted that, Division’s property records did not include all required elements as required by (2 CFR section 200.313(d)(1)). We also noted that, physical inventory of the property was not performed and thus the results were not reconciled with the property records at least once every two years (2 CFR section 200.313(d)(2)). Cause: The Division did not ensure that as a non-Federal entity Division’s, Property records must: (1) include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the federal award identification number), who holds title, the acquisition date, cost of the property, percentage of federal participation in the project costs for the federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property. (2) A physical inventory of the property must be taken and the results reconciled with the property records at least once every two years. Effect: Division is not in compliance with federal compliance requirements for Equipment and Real Property management. Questioned costs: Cannot be determined Recommendation: We recommend that the Division must: • include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the federal award identification number), who holds title, the acquisition date, cost of the property, percentage of federal participation in the project costs for the federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property. • A physical inventory of the property must be taken and the results reconciled with the property records at least once every two years. Views of responsible officials: Divisional Headquarters and the local units will include all relevant information on the master vehicle list and take a physical inventory at leas once every two years. See corrective action plan.
Reference Number: 2022-003 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program ALN Number: 97.024 Compliance Requirement: OTHER - BASIS OF ACCOUNTING Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency, Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Basis of Accounting —Uniform Guidance states the basis of accounting used may be a special purpose framework. However, it does state that the determination of when an award is expended must be based on when the activity related to the federal award occurs. Uniform Guidance also states for Grants, cost reimbursement contracts, cooperative agreements, and direct appropriation type of contracts, the federal expenditure or expense should be reported when the transaction occurs. Uniform Guidance further states, the auditee should also be able to reconcile amounts presented in the financial statements to related amounts in the schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Condition: Division receive Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program funds from the U.S. Department Homeland security/FEMA and various pass-through entities. Division report to the pass-through entity on an accrual basis. Division’s schedule of expenditures of federal awards is presented on the accrual basis of accounting. Of the Sixty (60) files selected for testing: • Five (5) prior year expenditures were included in Division’s current year schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Cause: Division did not ensure that all program expenditures were reported in the correct year in the Division’s schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Effect: Division’s schedule of expenditures of federal awards was not reconciled with the current year program expenditures recorded in the financial statements. Questioned costs: Cannot be determined. Recommendation: We recommend Division report program expenditures in the year expenditures were accrued. Views of responsible officials: The Division will report program expenditures in the year expenditures were accrued. See corrective action plan.
Reference Number: 2022-004 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program ALN Number: 97.024 Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Type of Finding: Material Weakness, Material Non-compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Non-Federal Entities Other Than States Non-federal entities must minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the US Treasury or pass-through entity and disbursement by the non-federal entity for direct program or project costs and the proportionate share of allowable indirect costs, whether the payment is made by electronic funds transfer, or issuance or redemption of checks, warrants, or payment by other means (2 CFR section 200.305(b)). What constitutes minimized elapsed time for funds transfer will depend on what payment system/method a non-federal entity uses. Under the advance payment method, federal awarding agency or pass-through entity payment is made to the non-federal entity before the non-federal entity disburses the funds for program purposes (2 CFR section 200.3). A non-federal entity must be paid in advance provided that it maintains, or demonstrates the willingness to maintain, both written procedures that minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the US Treasury and disbursement by the non-federal entity, as well as a financial management system that meets the specified standards for fund control and accountability (2 CFR section 200.305(b)(1)). Condition: Division receive Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program funds from the U.S. Department Homeland security/FEMA and various pass-through entities. Division receives advance funds from the pass-through agency and incurred program expenditures. Of the Sixty (60) files selected for testing We noted that the Division: (1) Does not have written procedures that minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the Pass-through entity and disbursement by the Division. Cause: Division did not minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the Pass-through entity and disbursement by the Division. Effect: Division’s will be in noncompliance with its cash management compliance. Questioned costs: Cannot be determined. Recommendation: We recommend Division minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the Pass-through entity and disbursement by the Division. Views of responsible officials: The Division will strive to minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the Pass-through entity and disbursement by the Division See corrective action plan.
Reference Number: 2022-005 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program ALN Number: 97.024 Compliance Requirement: Period of Performance Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency, Non-compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance Supplement Requirement: A non-federal entity may charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a federal award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity (2 CFR sections 200.308 200.309 and 200.403(h)). A period of performance may contain one or more budget periods. Condition: Division receive Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program funds from the U.S. Department Homeland security/FEMA and various pass-through entities. The Division’s pass-through Contract requires period of performance and also requires funds must be expended by certain date. Of the Sixty (60) files selected for testing We noted that the Division: • For 4 samples, we noted that Division program expenses were recorded prior to Contract starting date. Cause: Division did not ensure that Division may charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a federal award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the pass-through entity. Effect: Division’s will be in noncompliance with its Period of Performance compliance. Questioned costs: Cannot be determined. Recommendation: We recommend Division charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a pass-through award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the pass-through entity. Views of responsible officials: The Division will charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a pass-through award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the pass-through entity. See corrective action plan.
Reference Number: 2022–007 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: The Food Distribution Cluster ALN Number: Various Compliance Requirement: Allowable Cost Type of Finding: Material Weakness, Non-compliance Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with 200.502(g), Federal non-cash assistance food commodities received as part of a Federal award to carry out a Federal program must be valued at fair market value at the time of receipt or the assessed value provided by the Federal agency and must be included in determining Federal awards expended under this part. Condition: We selected 60 food commodity delivery receipts to sub-recipients (Sub – ERA’s) for testing; 16 selections did not have evidence of review. The delivery receipt includes the quantity of the food commodities distributed to sub-recipients. The monetary value of those food commodities is included in the SEFA. We also made 2 sign-in-sheet selections which contained the quantity of food commodity items that were distributed which were then used to populate the SEFA. The 2 sign-in-sheet selections did not have evidence of review. Further, out of the 60 selections tested for allowable costs, 13 selections pertaining to the food commodities did not have adequate support. As the food commodity distribution support did not include the weight of the commodities distributed, management used estimated weight of the food commodities rather than the actual weight of the items. The estimated weight of the food distributed was then converted to monetary value by multiplying it by a rate per pound which was calculated using data from the pass-through agencies, when recording on the SEFA. One of the selections had a difference of 10 boxes distributed between what was recorded on the SEFA and what was reflected on the underlying support. Cause: Management was not aware that evidence pertaining to the of review of the distribution of the food commodity items and the associated weight of those items was required to be maintained. Effect: Lack of sufficient and appropriate recordkeeping can lead to food theft or misuse as well as incorrect information being communicated to the grantor which may lead to the eventual cessation of grant funding. Questioned Costs: None. Recommendation: We recommend that management takes steps to ensure that proper evidence of review is maintained. Further, management should ensure proper documentation of the weight of items distributed is retained. Views of responsible officials: See Corrective Action Plan.
Reference Number: 2022–008 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: The Food Distribution Cluster ALN Number: Various Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Type of Finding: Material Weakness, Material Non-compliance Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations a sub recipient must be either a public agency or a private entity possessing tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code and must enter into a written agreement with the state agency, or with another recipient agency where permitted, binding it to perform the duties of a recipient agency (7 CFR sections 247.4, 247.7(a), 251.3(d), and 251.5(a)). Individual recipients must sign the Certificate of eligibility form (EFA-7), which is a self-declaration that they meet all the eligibility requirements to participate in in the program. Specifically, the participants are required to self-declare their household’s gross income is at or below the applicable TEFAP income guideline amount and they are prohibited from selling, bartering, or trading food received through this program. Condition: We made a total of 23 selections for the agreements signed with the sub-recipients (“Sub ERAs”), of which 4 Sub ERAs did not have signed agreements. To test the eligibility of individual recipients, we made a total of 60 selections of individuals who received food commodities from warehouses that maintained self-declaration forms. Of the 60 selections, there was no evidence that 14 of the individuals signed the self-declaration form. Additionally, the Division managed distribution sites that collectively distributed approximately $637,969 worth of food commodities that did not require or maintain self-declaration forms for the participants. Cause: Management was not aware that that the agreements with the sub recipients are required to be maintained and certain distributions sites were not aware of the grant requirements requiring individuals to self-certify their eligibility. Effect: Ineligible Sub-recipients or individual participants could receive grant funded food commodities, which can lead to the grantor withholding future funding. Questioned Costs: $637,969 Recommendation: We recommend management take steps to ensure sub-recipient agreements are retained and the distribution sites maintain sign-in sheets requiring participants to self-certify they meet the grant eligibility requirements. Views of responsible officials: See Corrective Action Plan.
Reference Number: 2022–009 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pass-through Agency: Various Federal Program: The Food Distribution Cluster ALN Number: Various Compliance Requirement: Special Test—Accountability for USDA Foods Type of Finding: Material Weakness, Material Non-compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Accurate and complete records must be maintained with respect to the receipt, distribution/use, and inventory of USDA Foods, including end products processed from USDA Foods in TEFAP. Failure to maintain records required by 7 CFR section 250.19 is considered prima facie evidence of improper distribution or loss of USDA Foods and the agency processor or entity is liable for the value of the food or replacement of the food in kind (7 CFR sections 250.16 and 250.19(a)). Condition: There was no documentation of inventory reports or evidence that inventory counts were performed for the period under audit. Cause: Management was not aware that the retention of the documentation evidencing the performance of inventory counts was required. Effect: Failure to maintain records required by 7 CFR section 250.19 could result in the Division being held liable for the costs of the related food commodities. Questioned Cost: Cannot be determined due to the lack of inventory reports. Recommendation: We recommend management take steps to ensure the documentation related to inventory counts are maintained. View of Responsible Officials: See Corrective Action Plan.