Finding: 2024-002 - Procurement, Suspension and Debarment
Auditor Description of Condition and Effect: In cases where the vendor did not sign a suspension or debarment certification, either within the vendor contract or as a separate certification, the City did not have a process in place to manual...
Finding: 2024-002 - Procurement, Suspension and Debarment
Auditor Description of Condition and Effect: In cases where the vendor did not sign a suspension or debarment certification, either within the vendor contract or as a separate certification, the City did not have a process in place to manually search the Excluded Parties List System to verify the vendor was not suspended or debarred. As a result of this condition, while none of the vendors tested appeared to be suspended or debarred, documentation does not exist to support that the City verified its vendors paid with federal dollars were not suspended or debarred prior to contracting with them.
Auditor Recommendation: We recommend that the City create procedures and a related checklist to ensure all federal requirements are being addressed.
Corrective Action: Due to the influx of new employees managing federal funds under the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program, many were unaware of the requirement to document their searches for suspended or debarred vendors. As a result, search results showing no matches were not retained in the files. Moving forward, all relevant employees will receive additional training to ensure proper documentation of these searches. This training will help to ensure this requirement is consistently met in the future.
Responsible Person: Heather Ehnis, Finance Director
Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2025