Audit 408963

2025 – 006 Suspension and Debarment Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Railroad Administration Federal Program Name: Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program Assistance Listing Number: 20.325 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 69A36525421690CRSIL FY2023-2024 Pass-Through Agency: City of Springfield, Illinois Pass-Through Numbers: 69A36525421690CRSIL Award Period: May 1, 2025 through January 31, 2029 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance AND Other Matter Criteria or Specific Requirement: Uniform Grant Guidance (2 CFR 200.303) requires non-federal entities receiving federal awards to establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements. Effective internal controls should include procedures to verify vendors are not suspended or debarred by checking the SAM.gov exclusions list, obtaining a certification from the vendor, or including a clause or condition in the covered transaction with the vendor. Documentation evidencing such verification should be retained. Condition: The County did not retain documentation verifying vendors were not suspended or debarred prior to entering into covered transactions. Questioned Costs: None Context: The County lacked documentation of suspension and debarment verifications for 5 of 13 vendors tested. Cause: The County does not have a formal process in place to ensure vendors are not suspended or debarred prior to entering into covered transactions. Effect: Without documented verification of suspension and debarment status, there is an increased risk of contracting with excluded parties, which could result in noncompliance with federal requirements and potential repayment obligations. Repeat Finding: The finding is not a repeat of a finding in the prior year. Recommendation: We recommend the County design and implement internal controls to ensure proper verification and documentation of suspension and debarment status for vendors prior to entering into contracts or purchases that exceed the covered transaction threshold. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

2025 – 003 Period of Performance Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Program Name: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Assistance Listing Number: 93.568 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: G-2402LLIEA 10/1/2023 Pass-Through Agency: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Pass-Through Numbers: 24-221038; 24-224038 Award Period: October 1, 2023 through August 31, 2025; June 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirement: Uniform Grant Guidance (2 CFR 200.303) requires non-federal entities receiving federal awards to establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements. Effective internal controls should include procedures to ensure that costs charged to federal awards are reviewed and approved for compliance with the allowable period of performance and that documentation evidencing such review is retained. Condition: Although payroll transactions charged to the federal award were reviewed to verify they were incurred within the allowable period of performance, documentation evidencing such review was not retained. Questioned Costs: None Context: 9 of 9 payroll transactions tested lacked documentation of review and approval. Cause: The County does not have a formal process in place to ensure documentation of the review and approval of payroll transactions charged to the federal award is consistently retained. Effect: Without documentation of review and approval, there is an increased risk of unauthorized or inaccurate payroll charges being processed, which could result in noncompliance with federal requirements and potential repayment obligations. Repeat Finding: The finding is a partial repeat of a finding in the prior year. The prior year finding number was 2024-003. Recommendation: We recommend the County review and strengthen its internal controls to ensure that costs charged to federal awards are reviewed and approved for compliance with the allowable period of performance and that documentation evidencing such review is retained. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

2025 – 005 Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Program Name: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Assistance Listing Number: 93.568 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: G-2402LLIEA 10/1/2023 Pass-Through Agency: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Pass-Through Numbers: 24-221038; 24-224038 Award Period: October 1, 2023 through August 31, 2025; June 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirement: Uniform Grant Guidance (2 CFR 200.303) requires non-federal entities receiving federal awards to establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements. Effective internal controls should include procedures to ensure grant closeout report packages are reviewed and approved by all required department personnel prior to submission. Condition: There were instances in which grant closeout report packages were not reviewed and approved by all required department personnel prior to submission to the granting agency. Questioned Costs: None Context: 2 of 2 closeout report packages tested lacked documentation of review and approval by all required department personnel prior to submission. Cause: The County's current practice is for the required department personnel to review grant closeout report packages only after the State has approved them, rather than prior to submission. Effect: Without a proper pre-submission review of grant closeout report packages, there is an increased risk of inaccurate or incomplete reporting, which could result in noncompliance with federal requirements. Repeat Finding: The finding is not a repeat of a finding in the prior year. Recommendation: We recommend the County design and implement internal controls to ensure that the grant closeout report packages are reviewed and approved by all required department personnel prior to submission and that documentation evidencing such review is retained. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

2025 – 004 Cash Management Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Program Name: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Assistance Listing Number: 93.568 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: G-2402LLIEA 10/1/2023; 2502ILLIEI 10/1/2024 Pass-Through Agency: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Pass-Through Numbers: 24-224038; 25-224038; 24-221038 Award Period: October 1, 2023 through August 31, 2025; October 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026; June 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance AND Other Matter Criteria or Specific Requirement: Uniform Grant Guidance (2 CFR 200.303) requires non-federal entities receiving federal awards to establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements. Effective internal controls should include procedures to ensure reimbursement requests reconcile to documentation of the underlying expenditures incurred and are also reviewed and approved prior to submission. Condition: There were instances in which reimbursement requests did not reconcile to documentation of the underlying expenditures incurred. In addition, reimbursement requests were not reviewed and approved prior to submission to the granting agency. Questioned Costs: None Context: 1 of 6 reimbursement requests tested did not have supporting documentation reconciling to the amount received. 6 of 6 reimbursement requests tested lacked documentation of review and approval prior to submission. Cause: Supporting documentation for reimbursement requests was not retained, in part due to employee turnover. Additionally, the County does not have a formal process in place to ensure documentation of the review and approval of reimbursement requests is consistently retained. Effect: Without proper supporting documentation and documented review, there is an increased risk of over- or under-reimbursement of federal awards, which could result in noncompliance with federal requirements and potential repayment obligations. Repeat Finding: The finding is a partial repeat of a finding in the prior year. The prior year finding number was 2024-004. Recommendation: We recommend that the County design and implement internal controls to ensure accounting records reconcile to reimbursement requests and that supporting documentation is retained. Reimbursement requests should be reviewed and approved by an individual other than the preparer prior to submission, and documentation evidencing such review should be retained. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.