CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN FOR FINDINGS REPORTED UNDER UNIFORM GUIDANCE Whitman County January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 This schedule presents the corrective action the County is planning to take for findings included in this report in accordance with Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (...
CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN FOR FINDINGS REPORTED UNDER UNIFORM GUIDANCE Whitman County January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 This schedule presents the corrective action the County is planning to take for findings included in this report in accordance with Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Finding ref number: 2022-001 Finding caption: The County lacked adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal suspension and debarment requirements. Name, address, and telephone of the County contact person: Jessica Jensema, Chief Finance Administrator 400 N. Main St. Colfax, WA 99111 (509) 397-5278 Corrective action the auditee plans to take in response to the finding: This is the second year in a row the County has received this finding. The 2021 finding was not brought to the attention of the County until early fall 2022 thus, a correction could not be made to the 2022 work that had already happened thus the finding had to be reissued for the 2022 financial year as well. The Counties response is the same as it was for the 2021 financial year: The County understands the importance of following 2 CFR 200, Uniform Guidance. In this situation, a County employee who was unfamiliar with the administration of Federal grants was responsible for the accounting of the SLRF (ARPA) fund (due to an extreme shortage of staff at the time). While this employee verified that all entities receiving the funds were in good standing with Washington State and were, indeed, valid businesses; verification from the federal websites for suspension and debarment was mistakenly missed. After the County was made aware of this issue, it did utilize the federal websites and fortunately, all businesses were clear of suspension and debarment, so they were eligible for federal funding. Going forward, the Finance staff will train employees who are new to administering a federal grant, ensuring that all requirements are met. Additionally, the County has now discussed this matter with all of the department accounting liaisons and the process for correct debarment verification is now included in the County?s Grant Policies and Procedures. Anticipated date to complete the corrective action: 9/30/2023