Condition: Creek County did not have written standards of conduct that cover conflicts of interest and govern the performance of its employees engaged in the selection, award, and administration of contracts. Cause of Condition: Policies and procedures have not been designed and implemented to ensure compliance with all federal award requirements. Effect of Condition: This condition resulted in noncompliance with federal grant requirements and could lead to a loss of federal funds to the County. Recommendation: OSAI recommends county officials and department heads gain an understanding of federal programs awarded to Creek County. Internal control procedures should be designed and implemented to ensure compliance with federal requirements. Management Response: Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and County Clerk: It has been brought to our attention that we need an additional policy that covers conflict of interests and govern the performance of its employees engaged in the selection, award, and administration of contracts. We have taken this recommendation and are implementing the proper language, for all employees to acknowledge in our County Handbook. We will strengthen this control, and we will review the policy annually, so that all conflicts can be disclosed. Creek County prides itself in moving toward complete transparency and holding each employee accountable to disclose all information needed to make a proper selection of purchases. Creek County Clerk's Office will work with the District Attorney's Office for proper language. Criteria: Compliance and Reporting Guidance, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (8. Procurement, Suspension & Debarment.) Section 200.308 General Procurement Standards reads as follows: (a) Documented procurement procedures. The recipient or subrecipient must maintain and use documented procedures for procurement transactions under a Federal award or subaward, including for acquisition of property or services. These documented procurement procedures must be consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations and the standards identified in §§ 200.317 through 200.327. (b) Oversight of contractors. Recipients and subrecipients must maintain oversight to ensure that contractors perform in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of their contracts or purchase orders. See also § 200.501(h). (c) Conflicts of interest. (1) The recipient or subrecipient must maintain written standards of conduct covering conflicts of interest and governing the actions of its employees engaged in the selection, award, and administration of contracts. No employee, officer, agent, or board member with a real or apparent conflict of interest may participate in the selection, award, or administration of a contract supported by the Federal award. A conflict of interest includes when the employee, officer, agent, or board member, any member of their immediate family, their partner, or an organization that employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible personal benefit from an entity considered for a contract. An employee, officer, agent, and board member of the recipient or subrecipient may neither solicit nor accept gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary value from contractors. However, the recipient or subrecipient may set standards for situations where the financial interest is not substantial or a gift is an unsolicited item of nominal value. The recipient's or subrecipient's standards of conduct must also provide for disciplinary actions to be applied for violations by its employees, officers, agents, or board members. (2) If the recipient or subrecipient has a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary organization that is not a State, local government, or Indian Tribe, the recipient or subrecipient must also maintain written standards of conduct covering organizational conflicts of interest. Organizational conflicts of interest mean that because of relationships with a parent company, affiliate, or subsidiary organization, the recipient or subrecipient is unable or appears to be unable to be impartial in conducting a procurement action involving a related organization. (d) Avoidance of unnecessary or duplicative items. The recipient's or subrecipient's procedures must avoid the acquisition of unnecessary or duplicative items. Consideration should be given to consolidating or breaking out procurements to obtain a more economical purchase. When appropriate, an analysis should be made between leasing and purchasing property or equipment to determine the most economical approach. (e) Procurement arrangements using strategic sourcing. When appropriate for the procurement or use of common or shared goods and services, recipients and subrecipients are encouraged to enter into State and local intergovernmental agreements or inter-entity agreements for procurement transactions. These or similar procurement arrangements using strategic sourcing may foster greater economy and efficiency. Documented procurement actions of this type (using strategic sourcing, shared services, and other similar procurement arrangements) will meet the competition requirements of this part. (f) Use of excess and surplus Federal property. The recipient or subrecipient is encouraged to use excess and surplus Federal property instead of purchasing new equipment and property when it is feasible and reduces project costs. (g) Use of value engineering clauses. When practical, the recipient or subrecipient is encouraged to use value engineering clauses in contracts for construction projects of sufficient size to offer reasonable opportunities for cost reductions. Value engineering means analyzing each contract item or task to ensure its essential function is provided at the overall lowest cost. (h) Responsible contractors. The recipient or subrecipient must award contracts only to responsible contractors that possess the ability to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of a proposed contract. The recipient or subrecipient must consider contractor integrity, public policy compliance, proper classification of employees (see the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 201, chapter 8), past performance record, and financial and technical resources when conducting a procurement transaction. See also § 200.214. (i) Procurement records. The recipient or subrecipient must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of each procurement transaction. These records must include the rationale for the procurement method, contract type selection, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. (j) Time-and-materials type contracts. (1) The recipient or subrecipient may use a time-and-materials type contract only after a determination that no other contract is suitable and if the contract includes a ceiling price that the contractor exceeds at its own risk. Time-and-materials type contract means a contract whose cost to a recipient or subrecipient is the sum of: (i) The actual cost of materials; and (ii) Direct labor hours charged at fixed hourly rates that reflect wages, general and administrative expenses, and profit. (2) Because this formula generates an open-ended contract price, a time-and-materials contract provides no positive profit incentive to the contractor for cost control or labor efficiency. Therefore, each contract must set a ceiling price that the contractor exceeds at its own risk. Further, the recipient or subrecipient awarding such a contract must assert a high degree of oversight to obtain reasonable assurance that the contractor is using efficient methods and effective cost controls.
Condition: During our test of the annual expenditure report filed by the County for compliance with grant reporting requirements, it was noted that the report listed inaccurate information regarding the actual expenditures. The annual report listed the expenditures totaling $3,765,498; however, the confirmed amount on the financial statement and SEFA indicated the actual expenditures were $4,453,372 resulting in an understatement of $687,874. Cause of Condition: Policies and procedures have not been designed and implemented to ensure compliance with federal grant requirements. Effect of Condition: This condition resulted in noncompliance with federal grant requirements for this program and could result in loss of federal funds to the County. Recommendation: OSAI recommends the County gain an understanding of the compliance requirements for federal programs to ensure compliance with the grant requirements and filing accurate quarterly reports. Management Response: Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and County Clerk: The Creek County Clerk's Office will work with the SEFA preparer to ensure that the correct paid dates are being used when reporting. This should eliminate the actual expenditures differences. We will work to educate all offices involved in the reporting process on financial statement and SEFA. Criteria: Title 2 CFR § 200.303(a) Internal Controls reads (a) reads as follows: The non-Federal entity must: Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Controls Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Compliance and Reporting Guidance, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (10. Reporting.) reads as follows: All recipients of federal funds must complete financial, performance, and compliance reporting as required and outlined in Part 2 of this guidance. Expenditures may be reported on a cash or accrual basis, as long as the methodology is disclosed and consistently applied. Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1. Your organization should appropriately maintain accounting records for compiling and reporting accurate, compliant financial data, in accordance with appropriate accounting standards and principles. In addition, where appropriate, your organization needs to establish controls to ensure completion and timely submission of all mandatory performance and/or compliance reporting.