Finding No.: 2023-013 AL Programs: 11.307 – Economic Adjustment Assistance Area: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Questioned Costs: $3,695,208 Contact Person(s): Elizabeth S. Balajadia, Office of Planning and Development Acting Director / James Kintol, Project Mana...
Finding No.: 2023-013 AL Programs: 11.307 – Economic Adjustment Assistance Area: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Questioned Costs: $3,695,208 Contact Person(s): Elizabeth S. Balajadia, Office of Planning and Development Acting Director / James Kintol, Project Manager, Department of Finance Corrective Action Plan: Condition 1: The CNMI Department of Finance respectfully disagrees with this finding related to project number FG17010001 (Economic Resiliency Center). The Department acknowledges that although supporting documentation – such as journal entries, approvals of expense transfers, sole-source justification memo, and grantor approval - was submitted, copies of the related invoices and/or contract agreement were not included. This omission was an oversight and resulted in a documentation-timing deficiency. The Department maintains copies of all required documents, and they are available for review upon request. To prevent recurrence, the department will reinforce our internal review procedures to ensure that all required supporting documentation is consistently compiled, retained within the Tyler MUNIS system, and submitted as part of future audit requests. Proposed Completion Date: Ongoing Condition 2: The CNMI Department of Finance respectfully disagrees with this finding related to PA Journals 478, 360, 2137, and 335. These transactions pertain to the Department’s Economic Resiliency Center (ERC) project. Due to internal scheduling constraints and the compressed 2-day turnaround to provide supporting documentation to the auditors, the requested documents were not submitted by the specified deadline. This timing issue resulted in the finding; however, it does not reflect a Finding No.: 2023-013, continued AL Programs: 11.307 – Economic Adjustment Assistance Area: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Questioned Costs: $3,695,208 Contact Person(s): Elizabeth S. Balajadia, Office of Planning and Development Acting Director / James Kintol, Project Manager, Department of Finance Corrective Action Plan: lack of documentation or inadequate recordkeeping. The Department maintains all relevant supporting documentation for these transactions and such documentation is available for review upon request from the Grantor. The Office of Planning and Development (OPD) partially agrees with the finding. OPD reviewed the questioned transactions and supporting documentation available under its custody. Payment documentation has been identified for PA Journals 186, 142, 141, 2670, 270, 4200, 556, 4180, and 913 and is maintained by OPD for review. For PA Journals 191 and 144, OPD verified that the invoice amounts are consistent with Contract No. 32200454; however, the PA Journal effective dates and journal numbers provided in the audit schedule do not correspond with the records reflected in the Munis system. For PA Journals 1585, 1862, 2219, 1138, 197, 593, and 219, additional information is required to complete verification because the PA Journal effective dates and journal numbers differ from the Munis records available to OPD. The referenced invoice amounts alone are insufficient to identify the transactions, as they may represent portions of cost shared expenditures or partial payments associated with larger transactions. Identification of the vendor would significantly assist in locating and reconciling the transactions. OPD further notes that the compilation of requested documentation occurred under significant time constraints. During the audit process, agencies were at one point provided approximately two business days to submit requested samples and supporting documentation. Given the volume of transactions and the age of some records, the limited response timeframe may have affected the ability to fully research, reconcile, and compile all supporting documentation prior to submission. Additional time for both agency response and auditor review may have facilitated a more comprehensive reconciliation and verification of the questioned items. OPD will continue coordinating with the Department of Finance and the auditors to reconcile discrepancies between the audit schedules and Munis records, provide available supporting documentation, and strengthen record-retention and transaction-tracking procedures to ensure supporting documentation is readily identifiable and accessible for future audits. Proposed Completion Date: Ongoing