Finding 2024-003 – Allowable Costs/Activities Allowed or Unallowed/Period of Performance – Significant Deficiency Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services Federal Program Name: COVID-19: Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDF Cluster) Assistance Listing Number: 93.575 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 2101NYCSC6 Name of Pass-through Entity: New York State Office of Children and Family Services Criteria In accordance with 2 CFR 200.303(a), the Organization must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal awards. The internal controls established should be in compliance with the Internal Control Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and properly documented. Condition & Context During our procedures, we noted the following instances when internal controls were not implemented in accordance with documented policies: 1. 2 out of 11 invoices tested for other than personnel services did not have documented and approved allocations showing expenses were designated for respective CCDF Cluster grants. 2. 1 out of 11 invoice tested for other than personnel services was supported by a journal entry that was entered and approved by the same individual. 3. 8 out of 40 timesheets tested for payroll expenses did not reflect accurate allocations for respective CCDF Cluster grants. Further, there were no documented and approved allocations for these items. Cause Internal controls over other than personnel services and payroll expenditures were not properly performed. Effect or Potential Effect Costs charged to the program may not be allowable under Uniform Guidance and costs may be recorded to the improper period. Questioned Costs None Identification as a Repeat Finding This finding is not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend the Organization consistently enforce its internal controls over other than personnel services and payroll expenditures to ensure that all allocations are reasonably evaluated, reviewed, and approved by the appropriate supervisor. We recommend the Organization enforce its internal controls and proper segregation of duties to ensure all journal entries are created and reviewed by separate individuals. Views of Responsible Officials The issue noted primarily reflects isolated lapses in documentation and oversight during a period of staff transition. Since that time, management has reinforced internal controls over both payroll and non-personnel expenditures to ensure that allocations are properly documented, reviewed, and approved before posting. In addition, all staff involved in charging costs to federal grants are being retrained on documentation standards and cost allocation procedures. The two OTPS invoices cited by the auditors were for overhead costs (payroll processing fees and general liability insurance) that are allocated based on allocation percentages and typically do not go through a separate approval process. The Agency is reinforcing supervisory review to ensure journal entries are created and approved by separate individuals and the accounting system was updated to prevent all staff members (without exception) from initiating and approving entries.
FA 2024-001 Strengthen Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Internal Control Impact: Material Weakness Compliance Impact: Material Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Number and Title: 84.010 – Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Federal Award Numbers: S010A220010 (Year: 2023), S010A230010 (Year: 2024) Questioned Costs: $9,307.29 Repeat of Prior Year Findings: FA 2023-001, FA 2022-001 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it related to the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. Background: The Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I) program was authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to help local educational agencies (LEAs) improve teaching and learning in high-poverty schools in particular for children failing or most at-risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards. LEAs may operate targeted assistance programs in which children who are failing or most at-risk of failing may be served or schoolwide programs in which all children in eligible schools may be served. Title I funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. Title I funds totaling $812,681 were expended and reported on the Talbot County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2024. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Additionally, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non- Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…” Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.430 – Compensation-Personal Services prescribe standards for documentation of personnel expenses and state, in part, that “(a) … Costs for compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy… specific requirements…, and that the total compensation for individual employees: (1) is reasonable for the services rendered and conforms to the established written policy of the non-Federal entity consistently applied to both Federal and non-Federal activities; (2) Follows an appointment made in accordance with a non-Federal entity’s laws and/or rules or written policies and meets the requirements of Federal statute, where applicable; and (3) Is determined and supported as provided in paragraph (i)…, [as follows:] (i) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity…” Condition: All journal entries and general ledger adjustments that impacted Title I program expenditures were selected for testing. For six of the 14 items tested, appropriate evidence of review and approval was not maintained. Additionally, a sample of nine employees was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. Personal services expenditures for these employees were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. The following deficiencies were noted: • For three employees, supporting documentation was not maintained for additional payments totaling $400.00. • Timesheets to support additional payments totaling $950.00 were not approved for three employees. • One employee was underpaid by $100.00 per review of supporting documentation associated with additional pay amounts. • For one employee, the amount paid did not agree to the contract provided and resulted in an overpayment of $8,907.29. Questioned Costs: Upon testing a sample of $43,178.26 in personal services expenditures, known questioned costs of $9,307.29 were identified for expenditures not supported by adequate documentation. Using the total personal services expenditures population of $381,740.79 (excluding benefits payments), we project the likely questioned costs to be approximately $82,286.14. Cause: In discussing this deficiency with the School District, they believe that these issues are primarily due to improper documentation retention. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance or ED guidance related to the Title I program. Failure to ensure that documentation exists to support the allowability of payments from the Title I fund may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to Title I program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are supported by appropriate documentation. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District's purchasing and employee compensation policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2024-002 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 – 84.425D – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 – 84.425U – American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 – 84.425W – American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund – Homeless Children and Youth Federal Award Numbers: S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021), S425W210011 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $8,763.69 Repeat of Prior Year Findings: FA 2023-002, FA 2022-002 Description: A review of expenditures charged to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program revealed that the School District’s internal control procedures were not operating to ensure that expenditures were appropriately documented to support allowability. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $1,581,012 were expended and reported on the Talbot County School District’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2024. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…” Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.430 – Compensation-Personal Services prescribe standards for documentation of personnel expenses and state, in part, that “(a) …Costs for compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy… specific requirements…, and that the total compensation for individual employees: (1) is reasonable for the services rendered and conforms to the established written policy of the non-Federal entity consistently applied to both Federal and non-Federal activities; (2) Follows an appointment made in accordance with a non-Federal entity’s laws and/or rules or written policies and meets the requirements of Federal statute, where applicable; and (3) Is determined and supported as provided in paragraph (i)…, [as follows:] (i) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity…” Condition: A sample of 16 nonpersonal services expenditures was randomly selected for testing using a nonstatistical sampling approach. The expenditures were reviewed to determine if internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements met. The following deficiencies were noted: • For three expenditures, evidence of review and approval was not reflected within the voucher package. • For one expenditure, unallowable costs totaling $14.35 were identified. All journal entries and general ledger adjustments impacting program expenditures were selected for testing. The following deficiencies were noted: • For five of the 13 items tested, appropriate evidence of review and approval was not maintained. • Sufficient supporting documentation was not provided for four journal entries posted to reverse expenditure activity. • For two journal entries used to record expenditures totaling $4,263.19 in the ESSER fund, it was determined that the charges recorded were not allowable and were not approved on the GaDOE consolidated application. Additionally, a sample of 23 employees was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. Personal services expenditures for these employees were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements met. The following deficiencies were noted: • For four employees, supporting documentation was not maintained for additional payments totaling $3,560.05. • For one employee, supporting documentation was not maintained for a pay adjustment resulting in a decrease of $500.00. • For three employees, the amount paid did not agree to board-approved salary scales and resulted in underpayments totaling $1,450.81 for two employees and an overpayment of $926.10 for one employee. Questioned Costs: Upon testing $64,812.64 of nonpersonal services expenditures, known questioned costs of $14.35 were identified for expenditures not supported by adequate documentation. Using the total nonpersonal services expenditures population of $560,743.52, we project the likely questioned costs to be approximately $124.15. In addition, upon testing a sample of $176,911.22 in personal services expenditures, known questioned costs of $4,486.15 were identified for overpayments and expenditures not supported by adequate documentation. Using the total personal services expenditures population of $873,826.11 (excluding benefits payments), we project the likely questioned costs to be approximately $22,158.66. Further, known questioned costs of $4,263.19 were identified for expenditures not supported by adequate journal entry documentation and were not tested as part of a sample; therefore, the known and likely questioned costs identified for unallowable payments throughout the expenditure testing totaled $8,763.69 and $26,546.00, respectively. Cause: In discussing these deficiencies with the School District, they believe these issues are due to improper documentation retention and the need for updated policies and procedures. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance or ED guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that documentation exists to support the allowability of payments from the ESSER fund may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that all expenditures are supported by appropriate documentation. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District’s purchasing and employee compensation policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2024-003 Strengthen Controls over Financial Reporting Compliance Requirement: Reporting Internal Control Impact: Material Weakness Compliance Impact: Material Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Number and Title: 84.010 – Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Federal Award Numbers: S010A220010 (Year: 2023), S010A230010 (Year: 2024) Questioned Costs: None Identified Repeat of Prior Year Findings: FA 2023-004, FA 2022-004, FA 2021-002, FA 2019-002 Description: The School District did not file accurate completion reports for the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. Background: The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) requires the School District to submit a completion report by October 30 after the 15-month period of performance associated with the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I) program ends. These completion reports are filed through the Grants Application section of the MyGaDOE web portal and reflect budgeted and actual expenditure information for the Title I program for the reporting period. If the total expenditures reflected on the completion report are more than the Title I program funds received by the School District for the grant period, a DE-0147 – Request for Reimbursement of Monthly Cash Disbursements will be automatically generated and the additional funds due to the School District will be disbursed appropriately. Conversely, if the total funds received for the grant period exceed the total expenditures reflected on the completion report, the Grants Application will prompt the School District to enter a check number for the required refund of excess funds drawn down. Therefore, it is imperative that completion reports are filed by the School District in an accurate and timely manner. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.302(a) state in part that “the non-Federal entity’s financial management systems must… be sufficient to permit the preparation of reports required by general and program-specific terms and conditions.” In addition, Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.302(b)(2) state in part that the non-Federal entity’s financial management system must provide for “accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements.” Further, as noted in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.511, management is responsible for implementing reported corrective action to findings from previous audits. Condition: A review of the School District’s accounting records and the completion reports related to the Title I-A, Improving Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged and Title I-A, School Improvement programs for the period ending September 30, 2024, revealed that the expenditures were under reported by $68,505.49. Cause: In discussing this deficiency with the School District, they stated this issue was due to not correctly identifying salary accruals during the completion report process. Effect: The School District was not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance and GaDOE guidance. Failure to accurately report federal award expenditures through the completion report process could lead to the filing of DE-0147 reimbursement requests with GaDOE that do not support actual expenditures or the School District not receiving reimbursement for expenditures incurred. In the fiscal year under review, the School District obtained less federal funding than they were eligible to receive. Recommendation: The School District should establish internal control procedures to ensure that completion reports submitted to GaDOE are supported by the accounting records and DE-0147 reimbursement requests are prepared based upon actual expenditures incurred. In addition, management should develop and implement a monitoring process to ensure that control procedures are followed. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FINDING 2024-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 22-23, SY 23-24 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-003. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not designed nor implemented a system of internal controls to ensure that program costs were supported by proper documentation, were allowable, and were only for the operation of the food service program. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 21 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Vendor Transactions A sample of 61 vendor transactions from the Food Service fund was selected for testing to verify the transactions were for allowable activities and costs under the Child Nutrition programs. There were 3 of the 61 transactions, totaling $3,698, that were paid to vendors for which the School Corporation could not provide documentation to support the costs. As such, the 3 transactions could not be verified as an allowable activity or cost for the food service program. In addition, 12 of the 61 vendor transactions, totaling $427, were refunds of student meal accounts that should have been paid out of the Prepaid Food fund. Of the 61 vendor transactions, there was 1 in the amount of $536 that was not related to food service. Payroll Transactions During testing, stipends totaling $1,142 were paid to 4 employees with no documentation to show support or approval of the stipend amount. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 22 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the food service personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, an effective system of internal controls was not established that would have ensured compliance, or that would have ensured supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Effect Without a proper system in place, noncompliance remained undetected, resulting in grant expenditures being spent for unallowable costs and without the proper supporting documentation. Noncompliance with grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Cost/Costs Principles compliance requirements could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs We identified $5,803 in known questioned costs as noted above in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a proper system of internal controls to ensure that expenditures made from federal awards are allowable per the terms and conditions of the federal award as well as the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement and that adequate supporting documentation is retained. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-004 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 22-23, SY 23-24 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-005. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 23 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to the purchase of goods and services that were considered covered transactions. Prior to entering into subawards and covered transactions with federal award funds, recipients are required to verify that such contractors and subrecipients are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. "Covered transactions" include, but are not limited to, contracts for goods and services awarded under a nonprocurement transaction (i.e., grant agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000. The verification is to be done by checking the SAM exclusions, collecting a certification from that vendor, or adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that vendor. The School Corporation had not designed or implemented internal controls, which would consist of policies and procedures, to ensure that vendors were not suspended or debarred prior to entering into a covered transaction. The School Corporation had four covered transactions that equaled or exceeded $25,000 during the audit period that were identified and selected for testing. Payments to the vendors, totaling $5,120,554, were made without verifying if the vendors were suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participation in federal awards. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 180.300 states: "When you enter into a covered transaction with another person at the next lower tier, you must verify that the person with whom you intend to do business is not excluded or disqualified. You do this by: (a) Checking SAM Exclusions; or (b) Collecting a certification from that person; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the food service personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, management of the School Corporation was unaware that all vendors who received more than $25,000 during the school year had to be verified. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 24 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls enabled noncompliance to go undetected. As a result, the School Corporation did not verify all necessary vendors were not suspended or debarred. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Reporting and the Procurement and Suspension and Debarment compliance requirements could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure that vendors who receive more than $25,000 during the school year are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded prior to entering into any contracts or subawards. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-005 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: National School Lunch Program Assistance Listings Number: 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 22-23, SY 23-24 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity Audit Finding: Material Weakness Condition and Context The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls that would ensure compliance with the Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirements. The Food Service Director is solely responsible for monitoring and applying for the necessary waivers for the Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirement with no oversight or review. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 25 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the food service personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, management was not aware of the need for a system of internal controls that included oversight or review that would have ensured the compliance with the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirement. Effect Without a proper system of internal controls, the School Corporation was unable to ensure the proper calculations were prepared or that waivers were obtained to ensure compliance with the Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirement. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls that includes review and oversight to ensure proper calculations are completed or that waivers are obtained to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Paid Lunch Equity compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-006 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, COVID-19 - Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants, COVID-19 - Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.027X, 84.173, 84.173X Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, 21619-045-PN01, 22619-045-PN01, 22619-045-ARP Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 26 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-006. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure that proper documentation was retained for audit. A sample of 60 expenditures made from the School Corporation's Special Education funds during the audit period was selected for testing. Of the sample of 60, there were 47 transactions that were fringe benefit claims for which there was no detail to identify the employees included in the payment amount. In addition, documentation and contracts were not provided for another 6 transactions. As a result, 53 expenditures, totaling $32,097, could not be verified as allowable activities or costs for the Special Education program. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 34 CFR 300.202(a) states: "General. Amounts provided to the LEA under Part B of the Act— (1) Must be expended in accordance with the applicable provisions of this part; (2) Must be used only to pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities, consistent with paragraph (b) of this section; and (3) Must be used to supplement State, local, and other Federal funds and not to supplant those funds." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 27 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 34 CFR 300.208 states: "(a) Uses. Notwithstanding §§ 300.202, 300.203(b), and 300.162(b), funds provided to an LEA under Part B of the Act may be used for the following activities: (1) Services and aids that also benefit nondisabled children. For the costs of special education and related services, and supplementary aids and services, provided in a regular class or other education-related setting to a child with a disability in accordance with the IEP of the child, even if one or more nondisabled children benefit from these services. (2) Early intervening services. To develop and implement coordinated, early intervening educational services in accordance with § 300.226. (3) High cost special education and related services. To establish and implement cost or risk sharing funds, consortia, or cooperatives for the LEA itself, or for LEAs working in a consortium of which the LEA is a part, to pay for high cost special education and related services. (b) Administrative case management. An LEA may use funds received under Part B of the Act to purchase appropriate technology for recordkeeping, data collection, and related case management activities of teachers and related services personnel providing services described in the IEP of children with disabilities, that is needed for the implementation of those case management activities." 34 CFR 300.800 states: "The Secretary provides grants under section 619 of the Act to assist States to provide special education and related services in accordance with Part B of the Act— (a) To children with disabilities aged three through five years; and (b) At a State's discretion, to two-year-old children with disabilities who will turn three during the school year." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 28 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the Special Education personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, an effective system of internal controls was not established that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Effect Without a proper system of internal controls in place that operated effectively, the School Corporation did not retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation. This prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Questioned Costs We identified $32,097 in known questioned costs as noted above in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls to ensure documentation to support all grant expenditures will be maintained and made available for audit as related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-007 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Cash Management Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, COVID-19 - Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants, COVID-19 - Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.027X, 84.173, 84.173X Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, 21619-045-PN01, 22619-045-PN01, 22619-045-ARP Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-007. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 29 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Condition and Context The system of internal controls over the applicable reports, as established by the School Corporation, was not properly implemented, nor was it operating effectively to ensure that sufficient audit evidence was maintained to support the requests for reimbursement. The School Corporation submitted six reimbursement requests to the Indiana Department of Education during the audit period. The School Corporation was unable to provide documentation to support the underlying data accumulated and summarized in each of the reimbursement requests. The reported data could not be traced to the records that accumulate or summarize the data; therefore, we were unable to verify the accuracy and completeness of the reimbursement requests. As a result, we were unable to verify that program funds were expended prior to requesting reimbursement. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.305(b)(3) states in part: "Reimbursement is the preferred method when the requirements in paragraph (b) cannot be met, when the Federal awarding agency sets a specific condition per § 200.208, or when the non-Federal entity requests payment by reimbursement. . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the Special Education personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, the School Corporation's management had not developed nor implemented a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, as it related to the grant agreement and the Cash Management compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 30 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect Without a proper system of internal controls in place that operated effectively, the School Corporation did not retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation to support the reimbursement requests. This prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls to ensure documentation for the reimbursement requests will be maintained and made available for audit as related to the grant agreement and the Cash Management compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-008 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Earmarking and Level of Effort Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, COVID-19 - Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.027X, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, 22619-045-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-008. Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 31 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Earmarking The nonpublic proportionate share of expenditures for the 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, and 22619-045-PN01 grant awards could not be verified for proper classification and do not meet the proportionate share requirement. In addition, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, and 22619-045-PN01 could not be verified as having any nonpublic expenses. The funds associated with these grants were, in some cases, comingled and/or overspent with multiple grant years and not adjusted properly. These errors were not corrected during the audit period. The nonpublic proportionate share of expenditures was determined by applying a percentage to the nonpublic school budgeted expenditures. These were the amounts reported to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per grant award was expended and properly reported to the IDOE as required. Level of Effort - Maintenance of Effort Maintenance of effort is a district-level test that determines whether the School Corporation is providing a consistent level of financial support to public schools from year-to-year. This rule ensures that the School Corporation does not use Special Education funds to shore up reductions in state and local support for public education. The IDOE performs the maintenance of effort calculation utilizing Form 9 information provided by the School Corporation from the prior year. As such, the amounts submitted to the IDOE in the prior year to be used in the computation are tested to ensure they were recorded properly in the School Corporation's records as to the account and object code. In fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, 60 transactions were tested each year to ensure the disbursements were posted to the proper account and object code. For 30 of the 60 transactions selected in 2021-2022, as well as 47 of the 60 transactions selected in 2022-2023, appropriate supporting documentation was not provided for audit. As a result, 77 disbursements could not be verified as to whether they were posted to the proper account or object code. In addition, 60 disbursement line items were sampled from the IDOE Form 9 for both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, to ensure the amounts agreed to the ledger. A total of 21 of the 60 disbursement line items in 2021-2022 and 2 of the 60 disbursement line items in 2022-2023 could not be traced to the ledger. Therefore, we were unable to determine if the disbursements for 23 disbursement line items were posted to the proper account or object code. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 32 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed . . ." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of the nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the Special Education personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office and recordkeeping issues, the School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, as related to the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the School Corporation cannot ensure compliance with the level of effort - maintenance of effort and earmarking requirements. As a result, amounts reported to the oversight agency were not accurately reported. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation establish a proper system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure nonpublic proportionate share funds are appropriately allocated to the individual school based on expenses charged directly on behalf of that school. Supporting documentation for these expenses should be retained for audit. In addition, proper recordkeeping should be maintained to ensure compliance with the level of effort - maintenance of effort and earmarking requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-009 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Period of Performance Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, COVID-19 - Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants, COVID-19 - Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.027X, 84.173, 84.173X Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, 21619-045-PN01, 22619-045-PN01, 22619-045-ARP Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Period of Performance Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-009. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure transactions made with the Special Education Grant funding occurred within the appropriate period of performance. Claims for the Special Education programs were paid without an appropriate level of review or oversight to ensure the expenditures charged to each grant were within the allowed time frame. Although the reimbursement requests submitted to the Indiana Department of Education were prepared by the Director of Business and approved by the Director of Special Education, the School Corporation was unable to provide tangible audit evidence of this review and approval process, which may have included a review of the costs included on each request to verify they were within the correct period of performance. The lack of effective internal controls resulted in the following errors: • A total of 21 of the 60 items tested were incurred after the period of performance for a total of $22,845. • A total of 11 of the 60 items tested were liquidated after the allowed time period for a total of $2,817. • Of the 23 adjustments tested, there were 6 adjustments that were for an expense that was incurred after the period of performance for a total of $23,430. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was a systemic issue throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 34 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.1 states in part: ". . . Financial obligations, when referencing a recipient's or subrecipient's use of funds under a Federal award, means orders placed for property and services, contracts and subawards made, and similar transactions that require payment. . . . Period of performance means the total estimated time interval between the start of an initial Federal award and the planned end date, which may include one or more funded portions, or budget periods. Identification of the period of performance in the Federal award per § 200.211(b)(5) does not commit the awarding agency to fund the award beyond the currently approved budget period. . . . Unliquidated financial obligations means, for financial reports prepared on a cash basis, financial obligations incurred by the non-Federal entity that have not been paid (liquidated) . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in both the Special Education personnel and the School Corporation's administrative office, the School Corporation's management had not developed nor implemented a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Period of Performance compliance requirement. The School Corporation had not filed reimbursement requests in a timely manner. Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls placed the School Corporation at risk of noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Period of Performance compliance requirement. This resulted in grant expenditures being obligated and liquidated outside of the period of performance. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs We identified $49,092 in known questioned costs as noted above in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls, which includes ensuring grant expenditures are obligated and liquidated timely to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Period of Performance compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-010 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, COVID-19 - Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants, COVID-19 - Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.027X, 84.173, 84.173X Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-045-PN01, 22611-045-PN01, 22611-045-ARP, 21619-045-PN01, 22619-045-PN01, 22619-045-ARP Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to the Procurement and Suspension and Debarment compliance requirement. Procurement - Small Purchases Federal regulations allow for informal procurement methods when the value of the procurement for property or services does not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, which is set at $250,000 unless a lower, more restrictive threshold is set by a nonfederal entity. As Indiana Code has set a more restrictive threshold of $150,000, the informal procurement method is permitted when the value of the procurement does not exceed $150,000. This informal process allows for methods other than the formal bid process. The informal process is divided between two methods based on thresholds: micro-purchases, typically for those purchases $10,000 or under, and small purchase procedures for those purchases above the micro-purchase threshold but below the simplified acquisition threshold. Micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive price rate quotations. If small purchase procedures are used, then price or rate quotations must be obtained from an adequate number of qualified sources. The population for those procurements that fell within the small purchase range consisted of three vendors with a total purchased amount from those vendors of $75,284. The School Corporation did not provide adequate documentation detailing the history of procurement, which must include the reason for the procurement method used, for all three vendors. Suspension and Debarment Prior to entering into subawards and covered transactions with federal award funds, recipients are required to verify that such contractors and subrecipients are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. "Covered transactions" include, but are not limited to, contracts for goods and services awarded under a nonprocurement transaction (i.e., grant agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000. The verification is to be done by checking the SAM exclusions, collecting a certification from that vendor, or adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that vendor. One vendor provided contracted services paid with Special Education Grant funds during the audit period totaling $44,827. Upon inquiry of the School Corporation, it was determined that the School Corporation did not verify that the contractor was not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 36 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) The lack of effective internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.318 states in part: "(a) The non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations and the standards of this section, for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward. The non-Federal entity's documented procurement procedures must conform to the procurement standards identified in §§ 200.317 through 200.327. . . . (i) The non-Federal entity must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurement. These records will include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: Rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. . . ." 2 CFR 200.320 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must have and use document procurement procedures, consistent with the standards of this section and §§ 200.317, 200.318, and 200.319 for any of the following methods of procurement used for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or sub-award. (a) Informal procurement methods. When the value of the procurement for property or services under a Federal award does not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), as defined in § 200.1, or a lower threshold established by a non-Federal entity, formal procurement methods are not required. The non-Federal entity may use informal procurement methods to expedite the completion of its transactions and minimize the associated administrative burden and cost. The informal methods used for procurement of property or services at or below the SAT include: . . . (2) Small purchases— (i) Small purchase procedures. The acquisition of property or services, the aggregate dollar amount of which is higher than the micro-purchase threshold but does not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. If small purchase procedures are used, price or rate quotations must be obtained from an adequate number of qualified sources as determined appropriate by the non-Federal entity. . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 37 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Indiana Code 5-22-8-3 states in part: "(a) . . . if the purchasing agent expects the purchase to be: (1) at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000); and (2) not more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). . . . (d) . . . the purchasing agent shall award a contract to the lowest responsible and responsive offeror for each line or class of supplies required. . . ." 2 CFR 180.300 states: "When you enter into a covered transaction with another person at the next lower tier, you must verify that the person with whom you intend to do business is not excluded or disqualified. You do this by: (a) Checking SAM Exclusions; or (b) Collecting a certification from that person; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person." Cause A proper system of internal controls was not designed by management of the School Corporation, which would include segregation of key functions. Embedded within a properly designed and implemented internal control system should be internal controls consisting of policies and procedures. Policies reflect the School Corporation's management statements of what should be done to affect internal controls, and procedures should consist of actions that would implement these policies. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. As a result, procurement procedures for goods and services were not adhered to, and vendors to whom payments equal to or in excess of $25,000 were not verified to be not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation establish a proper system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure there are appropriate procurement procedures for goods and services and contractors and subrecipients, as appropriate, are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded prior to entering into any contracts or subawards. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 38 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-011 Subject: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listings Number: 84.010 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S010A210014, S010A220014 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-010. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure that proper documentation was retained for audit. A sample of 60 transactions charged to the Title I grant during the audit period was selected for testing. The following errors were noted: • A total of 29 transactions, totaling $13,621, were fringe benefit claims; however, the supporting documentation provided did not include details to identify the employees for which the benefit was paid. As a result, we were unable to determine if the payments were on behalf of allowable staff related to the Title I program. • The School Corporation was unable to provide supporting documentation for 2 transactions totaling $551. As such, these transactions were unable to be verified as allowable activities or costs for the Title I program. The errors noted above were considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 39 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non- Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in the School Corporation's administrative office, the School Corporation's management had not established an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 40 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect Without a proper system of internal controls in place that operated effectively, the School Corporation did not retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation. This prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Questioned Costs We identified $14,172 in known questioned costs as noted above in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls to ensure documentation will be maintained and made available for audit as related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-012 Subject: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Level of Effort - Maintenance of Effort, Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listings Number: 84.010 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S010A210014, S010A220014 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-011. Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Level of Effort - Maintenance of Effort Maintenance of effort is a district-level test that determines whether the School Corporation is providing a consistent level of financial support to public schools from year-to-year. This rule ensures that the School Corporation does not use Title I funds to shore up reductions in state and local support for public education. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) performs the maintenance of effort calculation utilizing Form 9 information provided by the School Corporation. As such, the amounts submitted to the IDOE to be used in the computation are tested to ensure they were recorded properly in the School Corporation's records as to the account and object code. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 41 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) In fiscal years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, 60 transactions were tested each year to ensure the disbursements were posted to the proper account and object code. For 10 of the 60 transactions selected in 2022-2023, as well as 11 of the 60 transactions selected in 2023-2024, appropriate supporting documentation was not provided for audit. As a result, 21 disbursements could not be verified as to whether they were posted to the proper account or object codes. In addition, 60 disbursement line items were sampled from the IDOE Form 9 for both 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 to ensure the amounts agreed to the ledger. A total of 2 of the 60 disbursement line items in 2022-2023 and 6 of the 60 disbursement line items in 2023-2024 could not be traced to the ledger. Therefore, we were unable to determine if the disbursements for 8 disbursement line items were posted to the proper account or object code. Earmarking The School Corporation did not expend the required minimum amount from grant S010A210014 for parent and family engagement. In addition, the Homelessness Reservation for grants S010A210014 and S010A220014 did not expend the required minimum amounts. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.400 states in part: "(a) The non-Federal entity is responsible for the efficient and effective administration of the Federal award through the application of sound management practices. (b) The non-Federal entity assumes responsibility for administering Federal funds in a manner consistent with underlying agreements, program objectives, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 42 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 20 USC 6313(c)3 states: "(A) In general A local educational agency shall reserve such funds as are necessary under this part, determined in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C), to provide services comparable to those provided to children in schools funded under this part to serve— (i) homeless children and youths, including providing educationally related support services to children in shelters and other locations where children may live; (ii) children in local institutions for neglected children; and (iii) if appropriate, children in local institutions for delinquent children, and neglected or delinquent children in community day programs. (B) Method of determination The share of funds determined under subparagraph (A) shall be determined— (i) based on the total allocation received by the local educational agency; and (ii) prior to any allowable expenditures or transfers by the local educational agency. (C) Homeless children and youths Funds reserved under subparagraph (A)(i) may be— (i) determined based on a needs assessment of homeless children and youths in the local educational agency, taking into consideration the number and needs of homeless children and youths in the local educational agency, and which needs assessment may be the same needs assessment as conducted under section 11433(b)(1) of title 42; and (ii) used to provide homeless children and youths with services not ordinarily provided to other students under this part, including providing— (I) funding for the liaison designated pursuant to section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of title 42; and (II) transportation pursuant to section 11432(g)(1)(J)(iii) of such title." 34 CFR 200.77 states in part: "Before allocating funds in accordance with § 200.78, an LEA must reserve funds as are reasonable and necessary to— (a) Provide services comparable to those provided to children in participating school attendance areas and schools to serve— (1) INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 43 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (i) Homeless children and youths, including providing educationally related support services to children in shelters and other locations where homeless children may live. (ii) Funds reserved under paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section may be— (A) Determined based on a needs assessment of homeless children and youths in the LEA, taking into consideration the number and needs of those children, which may be the same needs assessment as conducted under section 723(b)(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; and (B) Used to provide homeless children and youths with services not ordinarily provided to other students under this subpart, including providing— (1) Funding for the liaison designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; and (2) Transportation pursuant to section 722(g)(1)(J)(iii) of that Act; (2) Children in local institutions for neglected children; and (2) Children in local institutions for neglected children; and (3) If appropriate (i) Children in local institutions for delinquent children; and (ii) Neglected and delinquent children in community-day school programs; (4) An LEA must determine the amount of funds reserved under paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(2) and (3) of this section based on the total allocation received by the LEA under subpart 2 of part A of title I of the ESEA prior to any allowable expenditures or transfers by the LEA; . . ." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in the School Corporation's administrative office and recordkeeping issues, the School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, related to the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the School Corporation cannot ensure compliance with level of effort - maintenance of effort and earmarking requirements. As a result, amounts reported to the oversight agency were not accurately reported. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 44 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish internal controls to ensure Homelessness Reservation and Parental set-aside expenditures are monitored throughout the period of performance to ensure earmarking compliance requirements are met before expiration of the grant. Supporting documentation for these expenditures should be maintained. In addition, proper recordkeeping should be maintained to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-013 Subject: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Eligibility Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listings Number: 84.010 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S010A210014, S010A220014 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-013. Condition and Context The School Corporation submits the October Real Time report each year to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). This data is used to report the School Corporation's enrollment and poverty (socioeconomic) status of the students enrolled in each school. The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure a proper review and approval of the October Real Time report took place before submission to the IDOE. Enrollment and poverty numbers for any nonpublic schools are manually entered into the Title I Application by the School. Summary data of nonpublic enrollment and poverty status was provided to the School Corporation by the participating nonpublic school. The enrollment counts and the poverty counts included in the summary data should have been supported by nonpublic school records, such as a list of students and their poverty status. The School Corporation did not retain the supporting documentation for the audit period for the nonpublic schools. The lack of internal controls and lack of supporting documentation was systemic throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 45 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) 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 Control Integrated 'Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 34 CFR 200.78(a)(1) states: "After reserving funds, as applicable, under § 200.77, including funds for equitable services for private school students, their teachers, and their families, an LEA must allocate funds under this subpart to school attendance areas and schools, identified as eligible and selected to participate under section 1113(a) or (b) of the ESEA, in rank order on the basis of the total number of public school children from low-income families in each area or school." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in the School Corporation's administrative office, the School Corporation's management had not established a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit, related to the Eligibility compliance requirement. Effect The School Corporation did not establish an effective system of internal controls and retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation for the audit period which enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Eligibility compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. As a result, real time reports and nonpublic school enrollment documentation were not maintained for audit, and, as such, the Indiana State Board of Accounts could not determine if the School Corporation complied with the Eligibility compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 46 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-014 Subject: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listings Number: 84.010 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S010A210014, S010A220014 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-014. Condition and Context The system of internal controls over the applicable reports, as established by the School Corporation, was not properly implemented nor was it operating effectively to ensure that sufficient audit evidence was maintained to support the requests for reimbursement, as well as the Final Expenditure Reports submitted by the School Corporation. The Title I Director approved the requests for reimbursement and the Final Expenditure Reports prior to submission; however, this review was not effective. The fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 Final Expenditure Reports and the six reimbursement requests were selected for testing. The School Corporation was unable to provide for audit documentation to support the underlying data accumulated and summarized in each of the Financial Expenditure Reports or the six reimbursement requests. The reported data could not be traced to records that accumulate or summarize the data; therefore, the accuracy and completeness of the reports could not be verified. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 47 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.302(b) states in part: "The financial management system of each non-Federal entity must provide for the following: . . . (2) Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements set forth in §§ 200.328 and 200.329. . . . (3) Records that identify adequately the source and application of funds for federallyfunded activities. These records must contain information pertaining to Federal awards, authorizations, financial obligations, unobligated balances, assets, expenditures, income and interest and be supported by source documentation. . . ." 34 CFR 76.722 states: "A State may require a subgrantee to submit reports in a manner and format that assists the State in complying with the requirements under 34 CFR 76.720 and in carrying out other responsibilities under the program." Cause Due to turnover of staffing in the School Corporation's administrative office, the School Corporation's management had not designed nor implemented a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and available for audit related to the Reporting compliance requirement. Effect Without a proper system of internal controls in place that operated effectively, the School Corporation did not retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation. This prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Reporting compliance requirement. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls to ensure documentation will be maintained and made available for audit as related to the grant agreement and the Reporting compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-016 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Number: 84.425D Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425D210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-017. Condition and Context As part of sound management of the federal award, the School Corporation was responsible for implementing a system of internal controls that would ensure compliance with the applicable requirements. The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented such a system, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance. The School Corporation was required to submit annual data reports to the Indiana Department of Education via JotForm, a form/report builder. During the audit period, the School Corporation was required to submit four annual reports as follows: ESSER II Year 2, ESSER II Year 3, ESSER III (ARP) Year 2, and ESSER III (ARP) Year 3. The following issues were noted with those reports: • ESSER II Year 2 - No expenditures were reported. However, the School Corporation ledger had ESSER II expenditures of $1,510,007 for SY 21-22. • ESSER II Year 3 - No expenditures were reported under "Addressing Physical Health and Safety Issues," and only $424,490 was reported under "Total Mandatory Subgrant Amount Expended in the Current Reporting Period." However, the amount reported did not agree with the School Corporation ledger, which reported ESSER II expenditures of $1,421,841 during SY 22-23. • ESSER III (ARP) Year 2 - No expenditures were reported. However, the School Corporation ledger had ESSER III expenditures of $266,349 for SY 21-22. • ESSER III (ARP) Year 3 - No expenditures were reported. However, the School Corporation ledger had ESSER III expenditures of $3,222,641 for SY 22-23. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 51 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Cause The School Corporation's management had not designed nor implemented a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance, or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and available for audit, related to the Reporting compliance requirement. Effect The failure to retain and provide appropriate supporting documentation prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Reporting compliance requirement. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Reporting compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and available for audit and comply with the grant agreement and the Reporting compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-017 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Number: 84.425D Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425D210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not designed nor implemented at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 52 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Construction contracts in excess of $2,000 financed by federal assistance funds must pay wages not less than those established for the locality of the project (prevailing wage rates) by the Department of Labor (DOL) to its laborers and mechanics. Nonfederal entities are to include in their construction contracts subject to the Wage Rate Requirements a provision that the contractor or subcontractor comply with these requirements and the DOL regulations. This would include a requirement to submit a copy of the payroll and statement of compliance to the entity for each week in which contract work was performed. The School Corporation did not have adequate policies or procedures to ensure that all construction contracts in excess of $2,000 paid from federal grant funds included a prevailing wage rate clause. One construction contract was paid from the COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund grant funds, totaling $2,998,814, during the audit period. This construction contract was subject to the wage rate requirements; however, the contract did not have the required prevailing wage rate clause included in the contract nor were certified payrolls submitted by the contractor timely. The lack of internal controls and failure to maintain and provide adequate supporting documentation were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 29 CFR 5.5 states in part: "(a) . . . The Agency head will cause or require the contracting officer to require the contracting officer to require the contracting officer to [sic] insert in full, or (for contracts covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR chapter 1)) by reference, in any contract in excess of $2,000 which is entered into for the actual construction, alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating, of a public building or public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part from Federal funds or in accordance with guarantees of a Federal agency or financed from funds obtained by pledge of any contract of a Federal agency to make a loan, grant or annual contribution (except where a different meaning is expressly indicated), and which is subject to the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced by § 5.1, the following clauses . . . (1) Minimum wages— INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 53 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (i) Wage rates and fringe benefits. All laborers and mechanics employed or working upon the site of the work (or otherwise working in construction or development of the project under a development statute), will be paid unconditionally and not less often than once a week, and without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account (except such payroll deductions as are permitted by regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor under the Copeland Act (29 CFR part 3)), the full amount of basic hourly wages and bona fide fringe benefits (or cash equivalents thereof) due at time of payment computed at rates not less than those contained in the wage determination of the Secretary of Labor which is attached hereto and made a part hereof, regardless of any contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the contractor and such laborers and mechanics. . . . (3) Records and certified payrolls— . . . (ii) Certified payroll requirements— (A) Frequency and method of submission. The contractor or subcontractor must submit weekly, for each week in which any DBA- or Related Acts-covered work is performed, certified payrolls to the [write in name of appropriate Federal agency] if the agency is a party to the contract, but if the agency is not such a party, the contractor will submit the certified payrolls to the applicant, sponsor, owner, or other entity, as the case may be, that maintains such records, for transmission to the [write in name of agency]. . . ." 2 CFR 200 Appendix II states in part: "In addition to other provisions required by the Federal agency or non-Federal entity, all contracts made by the non-Federal entity under the Federal award must contain provisions covering the following, as applicable. . . . (D) Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 3141-3148). When required by Federal program legislation, all prime construction contracts in excess of $2,000 awarded by non-Federal entities must include a provision for compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 3141-3144, and 3146-3148) as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR Part 5, 'Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally Financed and Assisted Construction'). In accordance with the statute, contractors must be required to pay wages to laborers and mechanics at a rate not less than the prevailing wages specified in a wage determination made by the Secretary of Labor. In addition, contractors must be required to pay wages not less than once a week. . . ." Cause The School Corporation had not established a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance or that the required clause was included in the contracts for the Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements compliance requirement. Also, the School Corporation was unaware of the requirement to collect weekly certified payrolls. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 54 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls over the Special Test and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirement compliance requirement resulted in one contract not meeting the guidelines established. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure compliance and to comply with the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2024-015 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Number: 84.425D Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425D210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-018. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly implemented a system of internal controls that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance. Vendor Disbursements Per inquiry with the School Corporation, one employee prepares the reimbursement requests, and another employee reviews the requests to ensure all costs are correct and allowable before giving their approval. A total of 60 claims were sampled for audit. Of the 30 vendor claims tested, there were 3 claims, totaling $2,563, that had no supporting documentation provided to determine if they were an allowable cost nor did they provide support of review and approval of the expenditure. Payroll Disbursements The School Corporation had established internal controls that all payroll is approved by the Treasurer and the School Board. However, during the audit, the School Corporation was unable to provide supporting documentation to show where the governing board approved the rate or pay or stipend amount for 2 of the payrolls selected for testing of $341 in order to determine if the costs were allowable. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 49 NORTH LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for the Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annual, from the date of submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Due to turnover in staff, supporting documentation could not be located to support for some expenditures paid from the COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund during the audit period. Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls could have enabled noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Questioned Costs We identified $2,904 in known questioned costs as noted above in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure supporting documentation is maintained and available for audit to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FA 2024-001 Strengthen Controls over Special Reporting Compliance Requirement: Reporting Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: 10.553 – School Breakfast Program 10.555 – National School Lunch Program COVID-19 - 10.555 – National School Lunch Program Federal Award Number: 245GA324N1199 (Year: 2024), 225GA324N1099 (Year: 2024) Questioned Costs: None Identified Repeat of Prior Year Finding: FA 2023-001, FA 2022-001 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over the monthly Claims for Reimbursement process. Background: The Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) is comprised of various programs that are intended to assist states in administering and overseeing food service program operators that provide healthful, nutritious meals to eligible children in public and non-profit private schools, residential childcare institutions, and summer programs. This Cluster of programs also fosters healthy eating habits in children by providing fresh fruits and fresh vegetables to children attending elementary and secondary schools and encourages the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities. CNC funding is granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) based upon each School District’s monthly Form DE0106 Claim Data report submissions. These DE0106 reports are to be supported by the corresponding Form DE0112 Daily Record of Number of Breakfasts Served and Form DE0118 Daily Record of Number of Lunches Served, which are prepared by the School District from their School Food Service meal sales system. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Provisions included in Title 7 CFR Section 210.7(c) require that the School District "base Claims for Reimbursement on lunch counts, taken daily at the point of service, which correctly identify the number of free, reduced price and paid lunches served to eligible children" and "correctly record, consolidate and report those lunch and supplement counts on the Claim for Reimbursement." In addition, provisions included in Title 7 CFR Section 220.11(d) state that the School District "shall establish internal controls which ensure the accuracy of breakfast counts prior to the submission of the monthly Claim for Reimbursement.” Condition: A sample of four months during the standard school year in which a DE-0112, DE-0118, DE-0106 and DE-0107 should have been filed was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. Additionally, the Form DE-0106 reports for the month of June 2024 were selected for testing. These reports were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable reporting compliance requirements were met. The following deficiencies were noted: • No Form DE-0112 or DE-0118 reports were prepared during the period under review. • Daily meal count sheets maintained by the schools did not reflect evidence of review and approval by lunchroom managers in four instances, including two breakfast and two lunch counts. • Meal count errors were noted for four out of five months tested. The number of meals served per the daily meal count sheets for these four months did not match the number of meals reported and claimed on the Form DE-0106 reports resulting in the under-claiming of 879 lunch or breakfast meals during the period under review. Cause: In discussing these deficiencies with management, the School District believed completion of DE-0112 and DE-0118 was not a requirement due to the election of Seamless Summer Option. As a result, the School District did not follow its policies and procedures that govern the reporting process for federal programs. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance and GaDOE guidance. Failure to submit accurate monthly Claims for Reimbursement to GaDOE can result in the School District obtaining less federal funding than they are eligible to receive. This deficiency may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages within the CNC fund. reports are to be supported by the corresponding Form DE0112 Daily Record of Number of Breakfasts Served and Form DE0118 Daily Record of Number of Lunches Served, which are prepared by the School District from their School Food Service meal sales system. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Provisions included in Title 7 CFR Section 210.7(c) require that the School District "base Claims for Reimbursement on lunch counts, taken daily at the point of service, which correctly identify the number of free, reduced price and paid lunches served to eligible children" and "correctly record, consolidate and report those lunch and supplement counts on the Claim for Reimbursement." In addition, provisions included in Title 7 CFR Section 220.11(d) state that the School District "shall establish internal controls which ensure the accuracy of breakfast counts prior to the submission of the monthly Claim for Reimbursement.” Condition: A sample of four months during the standard school year in which a DE-0112, DE-0118, DE-0106 and DE-0107 should have been filed was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. Additionally, the Form DE-0106 reports for the month of June 2024 were selected for testing. These reports were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable reporting compliance requirements were met. The following deficiencies were noted: • No Form DE-0112 or DE-0118 reports were prepared during the period under review. • Daily meal count sheets maintained by the schools did not reflect evidence of review and approval by lunchroom managers in four instances, including two breakfast and two lunch counts. • Meal count errors were noted for four out of five months tested. The number of meals served per the daily meal count sheets for these four months did not match the number of meals reported and claimed on the Form DE-0106 reports resulting in the under-claiming of 879 lunch or breakfast meals during the period under review. Cause: In discussing these deficiencies with management, the School District believed completion of DE-0112 and DE-0118 was not a requirement due to the election of Seamless Summer Option. As a result, the School District did not follow its policies and procedures that govern the reporting process for federal programs. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance and GaDOE guidance. Failure to submit accurate monthly Claims for Reimbursement to GaDOE can result in the School District obtaining less federal funding than they are eligible to receive. This deficiency may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages within the CNC fund.
FA 2024-002 Strengthen Controls over Journal Entries Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Internal Control Impact: Material Weakness Compliance Impact: Material Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: 10.553 – School Breakfast Program 10.555 – National School Lunch Program COVID-19 – 10.555 – National School Lunch Program Federal Award Numbers: 245GA32N1199 (Year: 2024), 225GA324N1099 (Year: 2024) Questioned Costs: Unknown Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to ensure that journal entries made for the Child Nutrition Cluster were properly documented. Background Information: The Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) is comprised of various programs that are intended to assist states in administering and overseeing food service program operators that provide healthful, nutritious meals to eligible children in public and non-profit private schools, residential childcare institutions, and summer programs. This Cluster of programs also fosters healthy eating habits in children by providing fresh fruits and fresh vegetables to children attending elementary and secondary schools and encourages the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities. CNC funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) and overseeing the various CNC programs. CNC funds totaling $2,692,854.62 were expended and reported on the Monroe County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2024. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…” In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.404 – Reasonable Costs state that “a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm’s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award… (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award’s cost.” Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.1 state “Improper payment means: (1) Any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements. (v) The term ‘‘payment’’ in this definition means any disbursement or transfer of Federal funds (including a commitment for future payment, such as cash, securities, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance subsidies) to any non-Federal person, non-Federal entity, or Federal employee, that is made by a Federal agency, a Federal contractor, a Federal grantee, or a governmental or other organization administering a Federal program or activity.” Lastly, provisions included in Title 34 CFR Section 210.14(a) state that “school food authorities shall maintain a nonprofit school food service. Revenues received by the nonprofit school food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or buildings, unless otherwise approved… FNS, or to construct buildings.” Condition: Auditors performed a review of transfer activity associated with CNC to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that journal entries utilized to transfer cash totaling $6,000,000 from the School Nutrition Fund to the General Fund were not properly supported by adequate documentation. Questioned Costs: Though questioned costs may exist, these amounts are unknown as adequate documentation to support the transfer of $6,000,000 in cash was not maintained. Cause: The School District transferred funds from the School Nutrition Fund to the General Fund in an attempt to reimburse the General Fund for several years’ worth of salary payments made on behalf of the School Food Service program; however, adequate documentation was not maintained due to oversight. Effect or Potential Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance or GaDOE guidance related to the CNC programs. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when managing federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable transfers. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to School Nutrition Fund journal entries. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that all journal entries, including transfers, are supported by adequate documentation. In addition, the transfer of cash associated with salary reimbursements should be made on a more timely basis and supported by payroll data. Furthermore, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all journal entry activity is compliant with the School District’s policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2024-003 Strengthen Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: 10.553 – School Breakfast Program 10.555 – National School Lunch Program COVID-19 – 10.555 – National School Lunch Program Federal Award Numbers: 245GA32N1199 (Year: 2024), 225GA324N1099 (Year: 2024) Questioned Costs: $2,641.33 Description: A review of expenditures charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster revealed that the School District’s internal control procedures were not operating to ensure that expenditures were appropriately reviewed, approved, and documented. Background Information: The Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) is comprised of various programs that are intended to assist states in administering and overseeing food service program operators that provide healthful, nutritious meals to eligible children in public and non-profit private schools, residential childcare institutions, and summer programs. This Cluster of programs also fosters healthy eating habits in children by providing fresh fruits and fresh vegetables to children attending elementary and secondary schools and encourages the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities. CNC funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) and overseeing the various CNC programs. CNC funds totaling $2,692,854.62 were expended and reported on the Monroe County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2024. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Additionally, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 – Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that “costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non- Federal entity… (g) Be adequately documented…” Condition: A sample of 60 expenditures was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. These expenditures were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. Three voucher packages could not be located by the entity for review. Questioned Costs: Upon testing a sample of $70,823.01 in nonpersonal services expenditures, known questioned costs of $2,641.33 were identified. Using the total population amount of $1,574,361.98, we project the likely questioned costs to be approximately $58,715.52. The following Assistance Listing Numbers were affected by known and likely questioned costs: 10.553 and 10.555. Cause: Due to staffing shortages during the fiscal year under review, documentation was not properly maintained by entity personnel. Effect or Potential Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance or ED guidance related to the CNC programs. Failure to ensure that appropriate documentation exists to support the allowability of payments from the CNC fund may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with improperly documented expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to CNC expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that all expenditure voucher packages are maintained on-file according to the School District’s record retention policy and contain all required components. Furthermore, management should develop and implement a monitoring process to ensure that controls are operating appropriately. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
Finding 2024-003 SIGNIFICANT DEFICENCY Internal Controls and Compliance Criteria: Pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 2 Grants and Agreements, Subpart D Post Federal Award Requirements, Section 200.303 “the non-federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal aware 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.” Condition: There were no expenditures coded towards the federal funds for all of the fiscal year 2024. Cause: The internal control related to allowable costs and allowable activities are non-existent. Effect: The expenditures in the financial records did not match any expenditure amounts reported to the State to receive federal funds. Recommendations: The Director and the accounting department need to create procedures to ensure that both parties are reporting the same expenditures. Within the procedures created, there needs to be checks and balances to ensure that the recording is occurring before reporting figures to the State. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The District agrees with the finding. See separate document for planned corrective actions.
Finding 2024-004 (Significant Deficiency) AL# 14.218: CDBG - Entitlement Grants Cluster, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, all open grants and years Condition: During testing of the PR26 - CDBG Financial Summary report, it was identified that one payroll cycle was reported twice, resulting in a duplication of payroll costs and an overstated reimbursement request. Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303(a) states that the City is required to 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. Questions Costs: $23,263 Context: During the year, the City converted ERP systems in the middle of March 2024. At conversion, the data from the old ERP system was converted into a project management database. The payroll cycle ending March 14, 2024, occurred at the time of the system conversion. This payroll cycle was included in the conversion data from the old ERP system and was also included in the project management system as data from the new ERP system. While the general ledger was accurate, the project management system duplicated this payroll. The sample size was determined based upon guidelines provided by the AICPA which is not a statistically valid sample. Cause: The ERP system conversion presented challenges to the City related to report development and in particular, accuracy of the project management system. Effect: The reimbursement request was overstated, resulting in an excess draw of funds. This creates a risk of noncompliance with the grant requirements and potential repayment of funds. Recommendation: We recommend the City work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reimburse HUD for the duplicated payroll amount and evaluate the data used in submitting reimbursement requests to ensure the data agrees to general ledger activity. Views of Responsible Officials (Unaudited): The City concurs with the finding. During preparation of the PR26 - CDBG Financial Summary report, one payroll cycle was reported twice, resulting in an overstated reimbursement request. This duplication occurred during the City’s ERP system conversion in March 2024, when payroll data for the pay period ending March 14, 2024, was included in both the converted legacy system data and the new ERP system project management records. While the general ledger accurately reflected payroll costs, the duplication within the project management system was not identified prior to submission of the reimbursement request. The City acknowledges that this represents a deficiency in internal controls over grant reimbursement reporting. The City will coordinate with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to resolve the duplicated payroll amount, including reimbursement or offset of the excess draw, in accordance with HUD guidance. Accounting Services Division, in coordination with the administering department and program management, will perform a reconciliation of payroll-related expenditures and reimbursement draws for all HUD grants for the period January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024, to ensure amounts claimed agree to general ledger activity. In addition, the City will ensure that recordkeeping and reimbursement preparation practices related to payroll expenses included in grant draw requests are sufficient to support amounts claimed and agree to general ledger activity. The Accounting Services Division will review existing departmental documentation practices and communicate consistent documentation expectations and best practices to promote accurate, complete, and supportable payroll draw requests.
Finding 2024-002 (Significant Deficiency) AL# 21.027: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, U.S. Department of Treasury Condition: The City’s control procedures for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) requires the department personnel to authorize payment and the program manager to certify the expenditures to the CSLFRF program prior to being paid. The program manager did not approve four invoices prior to the expenditure being charged to the grant. Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.303, the Non-Federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal controls over federal awards to ensure compliance with federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the awards. Questions Costs: None Context: During testing of grant expenditures, we identified 4 out of 21 items were missing the program manager certification prior to being charged to the grant program. All four invoices were approved at the department level and one of the invoices was subsequently reviewed by the department head. The expenditures were allowable under the CSLFRF program. The sample size was determined based upon guidelines provided by the AICPA which is not a statistically valid sample. Cause: Purchase orders are created that identify projects that are part of the CSLFRF program and expenditures coding is assigned at that time prior to the purchase. Once the invoice was approved by department personnel, the expenditures were applied to the assigned purchase order coding. Effect: Failure to follow established internal controls increases the risk of noncompliance with the grant requirements and processing unallowable costs towards the grant. Recommendation: We recommend the City review the processing of payments applied to the CLSFRF program to ensure program manager certification is complete prior to charging expenditures to the program. Views of Responsible Officials (Unaudited): The City concurs with the finding. Although the expenditures tested were allowable under the CSLFRF program and approved at the department level, the required program manager certification was not consistently documented prior to charging expenditures to the grant. The City acknowledges that this represents a deviation from established internal control procedures. Upon identification of this issue, Internal Audit worked with Accounts Payable and department personnel to address issues and made recommendations to correct the control gap. Additional review steps will be implemented within Accounts Payable to help ensure required approvals are obtained prior to payment processing. In addition, Accounting Services has developed a monitoring report to review CSLFRF expenditures and provide an additional level of oversight to verify that program manager certification is completed prior to charging expenditures to the grant. This monitoring serves as a secondary control to support compliance with grant requirements.
sistance Listings number and name: 21.027 COVID-19—Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Award numbers and years: SLFRP1179, May 31, 2021 through December 31, 2026; 221100CB02, January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024; 221100CB01, January 5, 2023 through December 31, 2026 Federal agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Compliance requirement: Cost principles Questioned costs: None Compliance requirement: Reporting Questioned costs: Not applicable Condition—The County’s Finance Department (Department) reported inaccurate cumulative and quarterly program expenditures as of June 30, 2024, to the federal agency as compared to the County’s records. Specifically, our test of the annual report found a cumulative understatement of $1.2 million, or 3.7% of the $32 million the County reported it spent on the program since May 2021 as shown in Table 1 below. In addition, our tests of all 4 quarterly reports found a net total overstatement of program expenditures of $71,109, or 0.4% of the $20 million in expenditures the County reported spending during fiscal year 2024, including quarterly reported expenditures ranging from a $10.1 million overstatement to a $10 million understatement as compared to the County’s records as shown in Table 2 below. Further, our test of 1 of 20 expenditure transactions found that the Department inappropriately recorded $594,380 of program expenditures in the wrong fiscal year. Specifically, the Department posted an adjusting journal entry on October 4, 2024, for expenditures that occurred between July 1, 2024 and August 25, 2024, and backdated the transactions to June 30, 2024. We are not questioning the cost as the expenditure was for an allowable activity and within the allowed overall period of performance; however, it was inappropriately recorded. Effect—The Department’s reporting inaccurate program information results in the federal agency being unable to rely on the reports to monitor the Department’s program administration, including its compliance with program requirements and ability to prevent and detect fraud, and to evaluate the program’s success. Additionally, there is a risk that the County may be required to return excess monies reported as spent to the federal agency if the expenditures have not been fully reconciled at the end of the program, which occurs during fiscal year 2027. Further, the Department’s recording expenditures in the wrong fiscal year resulted in a $594,380 error on its Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and an increased risk of additional SEFA reporting errors. The County subsequently corrected the error from the original draft. Finally, the County is at risk that this finding applies to other federal programs it administers. Cause—The Department did not have year-end closeout procedures to ensure the County’s federal expenditures were recorded in the proper fiscal year and did not train individuals responsible for preparing the federal program reports and related adjusting journal entries on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requirements to record expenditures when liabilities are incurred. Also, the employee responsible for preparing the reports did not reconcile expenditure amounts to the County’s accounting records or investigate and resolve any differences prior to submitting the report to the federal agency. In addition, the Department did not require an independent review and approval of federal program reports before submitting the reports to the federal agency to ensure reports are accurate, agree to County records, and contain only allowable expenditures for the applicable fiscal year. Also, the employee responsible for reviewing and approving adjusting journal entries did not detect the $594,380 error. Further, the Department’s management reported that it lacked policies and procedures for reporting program information to the federal agency as it was not aware that internal controls should include a review and approval and a reconciliation process. Criteria—Federal law, regulation, and guidance requires the Department to accurately report its current and cumulative obligations and expenditures on a quarterly and annual basis by type, such as contracts, grants, loans, direct payments, and transfers to other governmental entities, beginning December 2020.1 Further, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board sets the accounting and financial reporting standards that require the County to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP, which requires expenditures to be reported when the related liability is incurred. Also, federal regulation requires establishing and maintaining effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the federal program is being managed in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and award terms and conditions (2 CFR §200.303). Recommendations to the County 1. Report accurate and complete program information to the federal agency. 2. Record program expenditures in the proper fiscal year. 3. Perform and document a reconciliation for reports that the Department has already submitted to the federal agency to identify those that contain errors, and revise and resubmit those reports if practicable or notify the federal agency of these reporting errors. Develop, document, and implement policies and procedures, and designate and train responsible employees, to monitor compliance with the program’s reporting requirements including step-by-step procedures to: 4. Perform year-end closeout procedures to ensure the County’s federal expenditures are recorded in the proper fiscal year and in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, the Department should ensure all federal expenditures are properly documented and recognized and then lock the fiscal period in the accounting system after final adjusting entries are posted to prevent recording expenditures in the wrong fiscal year. 5. Reconcile expenditure amounts to the County’s accounting records and investigate and resolve any differences prior to submitting the report to the federal agency. 6. Perform and document an independent review and approval of federal program reports before submitting the reports to the federal agency and related adjusting journal entries to ensure reports are accurate, agree to County records, and contain only allowable expenditures for the applicable fiscal year. The County’s corrective action plan at the end of this report includes the views and planned corrective action of its responsible officials. We are not required to audit and have not audited these responses and planned corrective actions and therefore provide no assurances as to their accuracy.
Criteria: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult and Dislocated Worker funds must be used at the local level to pay for career and training services through the AJC system for program participants. Other activities allowed include basic career services, individualized career services, and training services. Activities allowed under Youth Activities include tutoring, alternative secondary school services, paid and unpaid work experiences, occupational skill training, leadership development, adult mentoring, follow-up services, financial literacy education, and entrepreneurial skills training. 2 CFR 200.403 Factors affecting allowability of costs. Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following criteria to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (g) Be adequately documented. See §§ 200.300 through 200.309. 2 CFR 200.303 Internal Controls (a) Establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control- Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Funds were expended for costs that are not explicitly allowable under the compliance requirements for activities allowed or unallowed including charges for conferences and travel. • Travel and conference expense reimbursements did not establish a clear business purpose or provide other evidence of attendance. Receipts lacked a detailed breakdown of costs charged to the federal award. • Employee reimbursements did not include itemized breakdowns and were not reported on the entity’s Expense Form. • The entity’s policy does not outline the approval requirements for Executive Director expense reimbursements. Cause: Employee expenditures were not reviewed and approved prior to being charged to the federal award program. • The necessary approvals were not obtained prior to incurring costs charged to the federal award program. • The entity’s policy does not explicitly state approvals required for Executive Director expense reimbursements. • Expense Forms were not utilized for employee reimbursements per the entity’s written policy. Effect: Lack of proper approvals and documentation could result in unallowable costs being charged to the federal award, possibly resulting in the entity having to return funds to the federal agency or pass-through entity. This may also lead to reduction of future federal funding due to noncompliance. This also creates an opportunity for fraud to occur. • Unnecessary or unreasonable costs charged to the federal award program. • Possible reduction of future funding or requirement to return funding used for unallowable costs to awarding agency. Questioned Costs: $14,548 Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that management review policies over employee travel expenses, conferences, and reimbursements to ensure they align with federal award requirements, are communicated to all employees, and provide necessary training. In addition, we recommend the WIB ensure that all employee reimbursement expenses are reviewed and approved prior to being incurred, approvals are obtained by an appropriate level of management or those charged with governance and are sufficiently documented.
Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 Internal Controls (a) Establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control-Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). 2 CFR Section 200.400(a) states “The recipient and subrecipient are responsible for the efficient and effective administration of the Federal award through sound management practices.” Condition: Invoices were not approved for 14 out of 60 (23%) transactions selected for testing. Purchase orders were not included for 5 out of 60 (8%) transactions. 22 out of 60 (37%) of the transactions selected for testing did not have any documentation to support the amounts charged to the federal awards. 5 transactions did not provide detailed receipts to show whether tax was paid. Cause: The entity did not follow procedures which are outlined in the Accounting Manual including the requirement to use purchase orders, obtain Executive Director approval, and retain supporting documentation for all expenses. Effect: Lack of proper approvals and documentation could result in unallowable costs being charged to the federal award, possibly resulting in the entity having to return funds to the federal agency or pass-through entity. This may also lead to reduction of future federal funding due to noncompliance. Questioned Costs: $231,725 Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that management review the policies and procedures in place, make any necessary changes, and communicate these to all staff at the WIB.
Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 Internal Controls (a) Establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control- Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). 2 CFR 200.329 Monitoring and reporting program performance (a) Monitoring by the recipient and subrecipient. The recipient and subrecipient are responsible for the oversight of the Federal award. The recipient and subrecipient must monitor their activities under Federal awards to ensure they are compliant with all requirements and meeting performance expectations. Monitoring by the recipient and subrecipient must cover each program, function, or activity. See also § 200.332. Condition: • Supporting documentation was not available for 4 out of 8 monitoring reports selected for testing. • None of the monitoring reports selected were approved by a second individual as required by the WIB’s policy. Cause: • Documentation was not retained as required. • Internal controls are not in place over eligibility and monitoring as required by the WIB’s policy. Effect: • Funding may be provided to individuals or entities who are not eligible to receive funding under the federal award programs. • Possible reduction of future funding due to noncompliance with federal award program requirements. Questioned Costs: N/A Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the WIB implement controls and document procedures over eligibility monitoring to ensure compliance with federal award requirements.
Condition: During the process of documenting the County’s internal controls regarding federal disbursements, we noted that Osage County has not established procedures to ensure compliance with the following compliance requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed; Allowable Costs/Cost Principles; Procurement and Suspension and Debarment; Reporting; and Subrecipient Monitoring Cause of Condition: Policies and procedures have not been designed and implemented to ensure federal expenditures are made in accordance with federal compliance requirements. Effect of Condition: This condition could result in noncompliance to grant requirements and could lead to a loss of federal funds to the County. Recommendation: OSAI recommends the County gain an understanding of grant requirements for these programs and implement internal control procedures to ensure compliance with grant requirements. Management Response: Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners: The lack of cooperation and oversight during the prior County Clerk's administration left significant gaps that required immediate attention. The current leadership has made addressing these gaps a top priority. Together, we are: • meeting monthly to update procedures and build stronger internal controls, • developing and formalizing policies to ensure full compliance with federal grant requirements, • and improving communication between offices to ensure federal reporting is accurate and timely. Our collective commitment is to put permanent measures in place to prevent these issues from recurring and to uphold the highest level of compliance for all federal programs. County Clerk: I was not the County Clerk in office at this time. The County will comply with all aspects of grant reporting and requirements. The Officials will work together to put policies and procedures in place to ensure more accurate reporting. County Treasurer: The County Officers will work on better communication to more accurately report the SEFA funds. Criteria: 2 CFR § 200.303 Internal Controls (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 Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Further, GAO Standards – Section 2 – Establishing an Effective Internal Control System – OV2.23 states in part: Objectives of an Entity – Compliance Objectives Management conducts activities in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. As part of specifying compliance objectives, the entity determines which laws and regulations apply to the entity. Management is expected to set objectives that incorporate these requirements. Accountability and stewardship should be overall goals in management's accounting of federal funds. Internal controls should be designed to monitor compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to grant contracts.
2024-004 Federal Agencies: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program Names: The Child Nutrition Cluster: National School Lunch Program Summer Food Service Program Child and Adult Care Food Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.555 10.559 10.558 Pass-Through Agency: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Education Pass-Through Number: 359-46-477-8 Award Period: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.430 (“Compensation—personal services”), compensation charged to federal awards must be accurately documented, supported by appropriate records, and approved in accordance with established personnel policies. Additionally, federal program agreements—including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s SFSP contract—require that any additional employee compensation charged to the award must be authorized, supported by documentation, and allowability must be verifiable. Internal control requirements under 2 CFR 200.303 mandate entities to establish and maintain effective controls over payroll processing, including documented approval of pay rate changes and personnel actions. Condition: As part of our audit procedures, we selected a sample of 40 payroll transactions for review. This process included examination of employee human resource files (such as signed W-4 and I-9 forms), management-approved pay rates, time sheets with supervisory sign-off, and corresponding payroll reports. We recalculated total hours per timesheet using the employees' pay rates and compared these figures to the relevant payroll reports. During our review, we observed that two employees received additional compensation ranging from $25 to $75 for undertaking extra responsibilities related to the administration of the CBS Food Program’s Summer Food Service Program by the former Chief Executive Officer. Management was unable to provide supporting documentation evidencing approval by the former Chief Executive Officer or confirmation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Education, indicating that such additional compensation complied with the contractual agreement governing the Summer Food Service Program. Additionally, of the 40 payroll transactions sampled, we noted one employee’s required payroll change documentation (e.g., an approved payroll change form) was not present in their personnel file. Questioned Costs: None Cause: Management did not consistently maintain or enforce internal controls over payroll documentation, including the requirement for retaining approval of supplemental compensation and payroll change forms. Additionally, there was no centralized electronic document management system to ensure secure and consistent retention of personnel and payroll support. Effect: Without proper documentation and approval, the Organization may have charged unallowable or inadequately supported compensation to the federal program. Payroll changes could be processed without appropriate authorization, increasing the risk of errors or unauthorized transactions. The lack of adequate payroll documentation may lead to questioned costs and reduce the reliability of payroll charges reported to the federal awarding agency. Recommendation: We recommend that management improve internal controls for payroll authorization by making sure every payroll change form and supplemental compensation approval is filled out, approved, and kept on file. Introducing a central electronic document management system will help securely store records, standardize documentation, and create clear audit trails for all payroll and personnel files. Management should also regularly review payroll records to confirm that all necessary paperwork, such as personnel forms, pay rate approvals, and backup for extra pay, is included. Views of Responsible Officers and Corrective Action Plan: Please refer to Community Benefit Solutions dba CBS Food Program’s Corrective Action Plan.
Significant Deficiencies 2024-002 - Activities Allowed and Allowable Costs Federal Program Information: Department of Transportation - ALN: - 20.500, 20.507, 20.525 & 20.526 - Federal Transit Cluster Criteria: The following CFR(s) apply to this finding: 2 CFR 200.303 Condition: During audit procedures, it was identified that the Committee does not have consistently applied internal controls over program expenditures. Cause: The Committee does not have the necessary internal controls over compliance. Effect: Insufficient controls could result in unallowable expenses being charged to the program and subsequently improperly reimbursed by federal funds. Identification of Questioned Costs: None identified. Context: There were 38 cash disbursements tested. It was found that 12 of the disbursements tested did not have backup documentation supporting the journal entry that was made. This is not a statistically valid sample. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding of 2023-002. Recommendation: The auditor recommends that the Committee implement internal control processes and procedures to ensure that they are following the criteria above. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan: See attached Corrective Action Plan.
2024-004: The Carter County Fiscal Court Did Not Establish And Maintain Adequate Internal Controls Over Compliance With CDBG requirements Federal Program: Assistance Listing #14.228 Community Development Block Grants/States’s Program And Non-Entitlement Grants In Hawaii The Carter County Fiscal Court Did Not Establish And Maintain Adequate Internal Controls Over Compliance With CDBG Requirements Federal Program: Community Development Block Grants/State’s Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii Assistance Listing Number 14.228 Award Number and Year: Multiple Years Name of Federal Agency and Pass-Through Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development / Kentucky Department for Local Government Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed; Allowable Costs/Cost Principles; Period of Performance; Special Tests & Provisions Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency Amount of Questioned Costs: $0 The Carter County Fiscal Court did not maintain all invoices and signed drawdown requests. However, this documentation was obtained later by the fiscal court from grant administrators and other sources. Invoices are required supporting documentation and should be reviewed before authorizing the drawdown and spending of federal awards. Drawdown requests are required to be maintained to document that the receipt of federal funds have been authorized. The fiscal court failed to review grant agreements to determine what required supporting documentation should have been maintained. The Carter County Fiscal Court, by not maintaining supporting documentation for review before authorizing the drawdown of federal funds, increases the risk federal funds could be spent on unallowable activities or unallowable costs, which would be a noncompliance of grant requirements. 2 CFR § 200.303 Internal Controls (Current as of June 30, 2024 ), states the non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States (Green Book) or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). We recommend the Carter County Fiscal Court should review all grant agreements to determine the supporting documentation to be maintained, and review supporting documentation before authorizing the drawdown and spending of federal funds to ensure compliance with the grant program or contract requirements.
Finding 2024-003 – Lack of Internal Controls over Expenditure Documentation (Material Weakness) Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Federal Program Name: Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants Assistance Listing Numbers: 66.460 Pass-Through Entity: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Commerce – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Program Name: Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 11.438, 15.015, 15.244 Pass-Through Entity: State of Oregon – Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.665 Pass-Through Entity: U.S. Forest Service Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program Name: Natural Resources Conservation ServiceName of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Federal Program Name: Wildlife, Sport Fish and Restoration Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 15.244 Pass-Through Entity: Bureau of Land Management Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Federal Program Name: Secure Rural Schools and community Self-Determination – Watershed and water-quality improvements Assistance Listing Numbers: 15.234 Pass-Through Entity: Bureau of Land Management Criteria: Title 2 CFR §200.303 requires nonfederal entities to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the entity is managing the awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the award. Additionally, 2 CFR §200.302(b)(3) requires entities to maintain records that adequately identify the source and application of funds, including supporting documentation for expenditures, and 2 CFR §200.430 requires documentation for compensation for personal services. Condition: During our review of expenditures charged to the federal programs, the entity was unable to provide invoice copies or other sufficient supporting documentation for certain expenditures tested. As a result, we could not verify the allowability, accuracy, and proper approval of these costs in accordance with federal requirements. In addition, records were unavailable for Personnel expenditures that were charged to grant awards, and no support or evidence of time per grant was available. Cause: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers does not have effective internal controls in place to ensure that invoice documentation and other supporting records are retained, centrally filed, and readily available for audit and monitoring purposes. In addition, management did not perform ongoing monitoring to verify that required documentation was maintained prior to reimbursement or reporting. Effect or Potential Effect: because supporting documentation was not available, expenditures from detail documentation could not be substantiated. This increases the risk that the unallowable, unsupported, or inaccurate costs may be charged to the federal program and reported in the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). Questioned Cost: Yes, $332,409 related to Personnel costs, equipment and other purchases that were not documented with detailed support. Context: During our audit, it was found that the Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers experienced complete staff turnover in Financial Management for the year being audited. No current finance employees had worked for the organization during the year being audited. No financial files for Accounts Payable, invoices, or reporting were available to the current financial staff. Not adequately retaining supporting documents and invoices to support the expenditures of the general ledger and requests for reimbursement for grants, the organization records may be insufficient for testing and review, for internal controls or meeting federal documentation and reporting requirements. Repeat of a Prior-Year Finding: No, Prior- year did not require a Single Audit.Recommendation: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers should implement policies and procedures requiring invoice copies and supporting documentation to be maintained for all grant expenditures. Management should strengthen record retention practices, provide training to staff on documentation requirements, and implement periodic internal reviews to ensure compliance. District Response: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers acknowledges the deficiencies. Corrective Action Plan: _____________ (To be completed by Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers) Planned Implementation Date: _________ Responsible Person: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers Finance Manager
Finding 2024-004 – Insufficient Skills, Knowledge and Training, and Leadership (Material Weakness) Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Federal Program Name: Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants Assistance Listing Numbers: 66.460 Pass-Through Entity: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Commerce – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Program Name: Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 11.438, 15.015, 15.244 Pass-Through Entity: State of Oregon – Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.665 Pass-Through Entity: U.S. Forest Service Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program Name: Natural Resources Conservation Service Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.905 Pass-Through Entity: U.S. Forest Service Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Federal Program Name: Wildlife, Sport Fish and Restoration Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 15.244 Pass-Through Entity: Bureau of Land Management Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Federal Program Name: Secure Rural Schools and community Self-Determination – Watershed and water-quality improvements Assistance Listing Numbers: 15.234 Pass-Through Entity: Bureau of Land ManagementCriteria: Under Uniform Guidance 2 CFR §200.303, non-federal entities must establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the award terms and conditions. This includes ensuring that: Personnel administering federal awards possess adequate skills, knowledge, and experience. Management and leadership provide appropriate oversight of federal award activities. Financial management systems adequately support accurate reporting, documentation, retention, and reconciliation of federal expenditures in accordance with 2 CFR §200.302. Condition: During the audit of federal awards, the entity did not demonstrate sufficient skills, knowledge, or experience of the staff and leadership responsible for administering and overseeing federal programs. Specifically: Adequate supporting documentation for federal award expenditures was not maintained or provided. Leadership oversight of federal award compliance activities was limited, and management review of grant activity were not evidenced. These conditions resulted in weaknesses in financial reporting, compliance monitoring, and documentation related to federal awards. Cause: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers has not ensured that staffing levels, qualifications, and experience are sufficient to support federal award administration and compliance. In addition, leadership lacks adequate knowledge of federal award requirements to provide effective governance, oversight, and monitoring of compliance activities. Formal training and documented procedures for federal awards management have not been prioritized. Effect or Potential Effect: As a result of these deficiencies: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers is at increased risk of non-compliance with Uniform Guidance requirements. Federal expenditures may be unsupported, inaccurately reported, or unallowable. Errors or compliance violations may not be detected or corrected in a timely manner. The entity may be subject to questioned costs, repayment of federal funds, or additional scrutiny from grantor agencies. Questioned Cost: None identified Context: During our audit, it was found that the Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers experienced complete staff turnover in Financial Management for the year being audited. No current finance employees had worked for the organization during the year being audited. No financial files for Accounts Payable, invoices, or reporting were available to the current financial staff. Not adequately retaining supporting documents and invoices to support the expenditures of the general ledger and requests for reimbursement for grants, the organization records may be insufficient for testing and review, for internal controls or meeting federal documentation and reporting requirements. Repeat of a Prior-Year Finding: No, Prior- year did not require a Single Audit. Recommendation: We recommend that Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers: Ensure staff responsible for federal awards receive appropriate training on Uniform Guidance requirements, grant financial management, documentation, and compliance monitoring. Assign federal award oversight to personnel with sufficient experience and qualification or obtain external grant management and accounting support as needed. Establish written policies and procedures for federal award administration, including expenditure documentation, reconciliation, compliance review, and management approvals. Require leadership to perform and document periodic oversight and monitoring of federal awards, including review of reconciliations reimbursement requests, and compliance metrics. Implement ongoing monitoring and internal control assessments to ensure compliance with federal award requirements. District Response: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers acknowledges the deficiencies. Corrective Action Plan: _____________ (To be completed by Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers) Planned Implementation Date: ___________ Responsible Person: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers Finance Manager
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Federal Program Title: Central Valley Project Improvement Act Assistance Listing Number: 15.648 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: F23AP02520-00 Award Period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 Compliance Requirement Affected: I. Suspension and Debarment Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirements: 2CFR § 200.303 Internal controls require a recipient of federal awards to: (a) Establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control-Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: While there was evidence that suspension and debarment verification checks were performed, the City was unable to provide evidence for when the checks were performed to support the fact that they took place prior to the related procurement. Questioned Costs: None noted. Context: The condition was noted on 1 of 1 of the procurement transactions selected for testing. Cause: Procedures were not in place to retain evidence of when debarment status checks took place. Effect: The City is unable to prove that internal control procedures over suspension and debarment compliance were performed in a timely manner. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that the City add a section to its standard contractor and subrecipient contracts for the other party to certify they are not suspended or debarred. In addition, we recommend the City establish controls to ensure that evidence of suspension and debarment compliance procedures is retained. Views of Responsible Officials: The City agrees with finding and will implement steps to verify if the contractor has been suspended or debarred from federal contracts.
Reference Number: 2024-010 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture State Agency: Department of Human Services Federal Program: COVID-19 – Pandemic EBT Assistance Listing Number: 10.542 Award Number and Year: 2022-2023 Compliance Requirement: Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Performance reports must be certified monthly and submitted no later than the due date prescribed in the reporting schedule provided by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Human Services (Department) submitted the July 2023 performance report untimely. Context: For one of eight reports selected for testing, the Department submitted the report untimely. The report was due 11/6/2023 but it was submitted on 11/7/2023. Cause: The Department’s procedures were not sufficient to ensure that monthly performance reports were submitted timely. Internal controls did not prevent or detect the error. Effect: A programmatic report was submitted untimely. Questioned costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend the Department enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that it submits programmatic reports on a timely basis. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-011 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Defense State Agency: Military Department Federal Program: National Guard Military Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Projects Assistance Listing Number: 12.401 Award Number and Year: W912K6-24-2 (10/1/2023 – 9/30/2024) Compliance Requirement: Period of Performance Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: A non-federal entity may charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a federal award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity (2 CFR sections 200.308 200.309 and 200.403(h)). A period of performance may contain one or more budget periods. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Military Department (Department) charged costs to the federal grant prior to the allowable start of the period of performance. The expenditures were incurred from six to twenty-three days prior to the start of the award period. Context: Two of forty transactions selected for testing were incurred prior to the allowable start of the period of performance. Cause: The Department’s procedures were not operating sufficiently to ensure that expenditures charged to the program were incurred within the awards’ period of performance. Internal controls did not prevent or detect the errors. Effect: Costs could be deemed unallowable by the awarding agency if funds are expended outside of the allowable period of performance. Questioned costs: $ 4,699, which represents the total of the expenditures incurred prior to the awards’ period of performance. Recommendation: The Department should review and enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that it charges expenditures to the program that are incurred within an award’s allowable period of performance. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-012 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor State Agency: Department of Labor Federal Program: Unemployment Insurance, COVID-19 – Unemployment Insurance Assistance Listing Number: 17.225 Award Number and Year: 2023 - 2024 Compliance Requirement: Allowable Activities/Costs Eligibility Matching Period of Performance Reporting Special Tests and Provisions – UI Benefit Payments Special Tests and Provisions – Match with IRS 940 FUTA Tax Form Special Tests and Provisions – UI Program Integrity-Overpayments Special Tests and Provisions – UI Reemployment Programs: Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) and Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Labor (Department) was unable to provide documentation supporting its compliance with program requirements for Allowable Activities/Costs, Matching, Period of Performance, Special Tests and Provisions – UI Benefit Payments, Special Tests and Provisions – Match with IRS 940 FUTA Tax Form, Special Tests and Provisions – UI Program Integrity-Overpayments, Special Tests and Provisions – UI Reemployment Programs: Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) and Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA). The Department provided all requested reports but some of the compliance requirements were not tested due to missing supporting documentation. We noted that documentation supporting key line items, timeliness of the submitted report, and/or review and approval of the report was not provided. Context: The Department failed to provide supporting documentation to auditors. Therefore, compliance with program requirements were not tested. Reporting: Financial Reports ETA 2112-UI Financial Transaction Summary, supporting documentation of submitted data and evidence of review was not provided for four of the four reports selected for testing. ETA 191-Financial Status of UCFE/UCX, supporting documentation of submitted data and evidence of review was not provided for two of the two reports selected for testing. Reporting: Performance Reports ETA 9050-Time Lapse of All First Payments except Workshare, supporting documentation for key line items, evidence of submission date and evidence of review was not provided for four of the four reports selected for testing. ETA 9052-Nonmonetary Determination Time Lapse Detection, supporting documentation for key line items, evidence of submission date and evidence of review was not provided for four of the four reports selected for testing. ETA 9055-Appeals Case Aging – Lower and Higher Authority Appeals, supporting documentation for key line items, evidence of submission date and evidence of review was not provided for four of the four 5eports selected for testing. Reporting: Special report ETA 2208A-Quarterly UI Above-Base Report evidence of review was not provided for two of the two reports selected for testing. Cause: The Department experienced significant transition in management and staffing during FY 2024. Due to lack of written procedures and processes, information related to the unemployment insurance compliance requirements was transitioned to the current UI team. Effect: Auditors were unable to verify the Department’s compliance with program requirements. Questioned costs: Undetermined due to lack of audit documentation. Recommendation: We recommend the Department implement procedures and internal controls to ensure that it complies with program requirements, that it maintains documentation, and that documentation is readily available for audit. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-013 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor State Agency: Department of Labor Federal Program: WIOA Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 17.258, 17.259, 17.278 Award Number and Year: 23A55AT000018 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026) 23A55AW000021 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026) 23A55AY000028 (4/1/2023 – 6/30/2026) Compliance Requirement: Reporting – Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), prime (direct) recipients of grants or cooperative agreements are required to report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Subaward Reporting System (FSRS). Reports must be filed in FSRS by the end of the month following the month in which the prime recipient awards any sub-grant greater than or equal to $30,000. If the initial award is below $30,000 but subsequent grant modifications result in a total award equal to or over $30,000, the award will be subject to the reporting requirements as of the date the award exceeds $30,000. If the initial award equals or exceeds $30,000 but funding is subsequently de-obligated such that the total award amount falls below $30,000, the award continues to be subject to FFATA reporting requirements. The following key data elements must be reported: Subawardee Name and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number; Amount of Subaward (inclusive of modifications); Subaward Obligation/Action Date; Date of Report Submission; Subaward Number; Project Description; and Names and Compensation of Highly Compensated Officers. (Names and Compensation of Highly Compensated Officers must only be reported when the entity in the preceding fiscal year received 80 percent or more of its annual gross revenues in Federal awards; and $25,000,000 or more in annual gross revenues from Federal awards; and the public does not have access to this information about the compensation of the senior executives of the entity through periodic reports filed under section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(a), 78o(d)) or section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.) Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Labor (Department) was not in compliance with FSRS reporting requirements. Subawards were not reported to FSRS. Context: Five of five subawards selected for testing were not reported to FSRS. SEE SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FOR CHART/TABLE Cause: The Department does not have procedures and internal controls to ensure that subawards are reported timely and accurately to FSRS. Effect: Subawards were not reported to FSRS in accordance with FFATA requirements. Questioned costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend the Department develop internal controls and procedures to ensure that all required subawards are reported timely and accurately to FSRS no later than the end of the month following the month of issuance. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-014 Prior Year Finding: 2023-008 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury State Agency: Department of Housing and Community Development Federal Program: COVID-19 – Emergency Rental Assistance Program Assistance Listing Number: 21.023 Award Number and Year: 3/1/2021- 9/30/2025 Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR 200, a non-federal entity must determine whether amounts provided to or on behalf of eligible participants or groups of participants were calculated in accordance with program requirements. For ERA2, a grantee may only use the funds provided in the ERA to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households. To be eligible, a household must be obligated to pay rent on a residential dwelling and the grantee must determine that: a. one or more individuals within the household has qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship during or due, directly or indirectly, to the coronavirus pandemic. b. one or more individuals within the household can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and c. the household is a low-income family (as such term is defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))). Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Housing and Community Development (Department) did not consistently issue ERA the approval letter prior to disbursing funds. We identified disbursements that were approved during 2023 and 2024, and the approval letter was issued in February 2025. Context: ERA: For 4 of 60 participants selected for testing, the assistance approval letter was signed after funds were disbursed. Cause: The Department’s procedures and internal controls were did not identify the untimely issuance of the approval letters. Effect: Inconsistent performance of procedures and internal controls increases the risk of noncompliance. Questioned costs: None noted, the disbursements were issued for eligible participants. Recommendation: We recommend that the Department review and enhance supervisor review and approval to ensure that program requirements are consistently performed. Documentation to support compliance with the requirements should be maintained and readily available for review. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-015 Prior Year Finding: 2023-009 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury State Agency: Department of Housing and Community Development Federal Program: COVID-19 – Homeowner Assistance Fund Assistance Listing Number: 21.026 Award Number and Year: 11/1/2021 – 9/30/2026 Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Activities – Time and Effort Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: 2 CFR Section 200.430 (8)(i) Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses states that: Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities; (iv) Encompass both federally assisted, and all other activities compensated by the non-Federal entity on an integrated basis, but may include the use of subsidiary records as defined in the non-Federal entity's written policy; (v) Comply with the established accounting policies and practices of the non-Federal entity; (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Housing and Community Development (Department) did not have effective controls in place for monitoring and obtaining adequate support to validate actual payroll expenses charged to the federal program. Context: One of sixty timesheets selected for testing could not be located by the Department and was unavailable for testing. Cause: Controls were not operating effectively to ensure that time and effort reporting was performed and documented in a timely manner in accordance with federal requirements. Effect: Documentation could not be provided for costs charged to the program. Questioned costs: Undetermined. Recommendation: The Department should reevaluate current process, implement proper controls, and perform additional training over time and effort reporting. The Department should not seek federal reimbursement unless they can substantiate that the time and effort was dedicated to the federal program. Documentation should be readily available for audit. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-016 Prior Year Finding: 2023-011 Federal Agency: U.S Department of the Treasury U.S. Department of Education State Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 84.425 C, D, R, U, V, W Award Number and Year: CSLFRF: 2021 ESF: S425C210002, 2021-2023 S425D210005, 2021-2023 S425R210006, 2021-2023 S425U210005, 2021-2024 S425V210006, 2022-2024 S425W210021, 2021-2024 Compliance Requirement: Subrecipient Monitoring Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR 200 section 200.332 (a)1 (ii) Ensure that every subaward is clearly identified to the subrecipient as a subaward and includes required federal award information at the time of the subaward. If any of the data elements change, include the changes in subsequent subaward modifications. When some of this information is not available, the pass-through entity must provide the best information available to describe the Federal award and subaward. Required information includes: Subrecipient's unique entity identifier. Per 2 CFR 200 section 200.332 (a)1(d) a non-Federal entity should monitor the activities of the subrecipient as necessary to ensure that the subaward is used for authorized purposes, in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the subaward; and that subaward performance goals are achieved. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Education (Department) was unable to provide documentation that it had subrecipient monitoring procedures in place, nor that monitoring activities were performed. The Department also did not include all required information in subawards it issued to subrecipients. The Department’s 2023 corrective action plan noted that resolution of the finding would not be until FY 2025. The auditor obtained the Department’s project monitoring plan and monitoring survey implemented during fiscal year 2025. Context: ESF: Twenty-nine subrecipients were selected for testing and the following exceptions were noted: • For 29 of 29 subrecipients selected for testing, the Department was unable to provide documentation that subrecipient monitoring procedures were in place nor that subrecipient monitoring was performed. • For 2 of 29 subrecipients selected for testing, the subrecipient’s unique identifier was not obtained. The subaward did not contain the required information nor did the Department provide documentation of obtaining the information for the subrecipient. CSLFRF: For seven of seven subrecipients selected for testing, the Department was unable to provide documentation that subrecipient monitoring procedures were in place nor that subrecipient monitoring was performed. Cause: The subawards for non-public schools did not contain the required information, which was not identified during the review process. The Department’s 2023 corrective action plan noted that resolution of the finding would not be until FY 2025. The auditor obtained the Department’s project monitoring plan and monitoring survey implemented during fiscal year 2025. Effect: The Department is not in compliance with the grantor’s reporting requirements during the audit period. Questioned costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend that the Department continue to implement the sub recipient monitoring procedures and develop internal controls to ensure that the monitoring requirements are performed in a consistent and timely manner. Furthermore, the procedures should ensure that the documentation supporting compliance is maintained and readily available for review. We also recommend that the subawards contain all required federal award information. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-017 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425 C, D, R, U, V, W Award Number and Year: S425C210002, 2021-2023 S425D210005, 2021-2023 S425R210006, 2021-2023 S425U210005, 2021-2024 S425V210006, 2022-2024 S425W210021, 2021-2024 Compliance Requirement: Reporting – Annual Report Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Annual Reporting: (OMB No. 1810-0749 for ESSER; 1810-0748 for GEER; and 1810-0765 for EANS) with data on expenditures, planned expenditures, subrecipients, and uses of funds, including for mandatory reservations. LEAs/subrecipients submit data to the SEA/Governor for the SEA’s/Governor’s report. The annual performance reports can be found on the Grantee Help page of ED’s ESF Transparency Portal. Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Education (Department) did not provide documentation to support submission of the annual report. The documentation provided by the Department to support the annual report was not in a format that could be audited. As a result, auditors were unable to test the accuracy of the report’s key line items. The data was in the prescribed format for compilation and transmission to the U.S. Department of Education but was not identifiable by the auditor. Context: The annual report is for all grants. Cause: The Department was unable to provide the requested documentation in a timely manner to allow auditors to test compliance with the federal requirement. Effect: The Department was not able to support compliance with the grantor’s reporting requirements. Questioned costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend that the Department develop internal controls and procedures to ensure that all reporting requirements are performed in a consistent and timely manner, and that the documentation supporting compliance is maintained and readily available for review. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-018 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425 C, D, R, U, V, W Award Number and Year: S425C210002, 2021-2023 S425D210005, 2021-2023 S425R210006, 2021-2023 S425U210005, 2021-2024 S425V210006, 2022-2024 S425W210021, 2021-2024 Compliance Requirement: Reporting – Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), prime (direct) recipients of grants or cooperative agreements are required to report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Subaward Reporting System (FSRS). Reports must be filed in FSRS by the end of the month following the month in which the prime recipient awards any sub-grant greater than or equal to $30,000. If the initial award is below $30,000 but subsequent grant modifications result in a total award equal to or over $30,000, the award will be subject to the reporting requirements as of the date the award exceeds $30,000. If the initial award equals or exceeds $30,000 but funding is subsequently de-obligated such that the total award amount falls below $30,000, the award continues to be subject to FFATA reporting requirements. The following key data elements must be reported: Subawardee Name and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number; Amount of Subaward (inclusive of modifications); Subaward Obligation/Action Date; Date of Report Submission; Subaward Number; Project Description; and Names and Compensation of Highly Compensated Officers. (Names and Compensation of Highly Compensated Officers must only be reported when the entity in the preceding fiscal year received 80 percent or more of its annual gross revenues in Federal awards; and $25,000,000 or more in annual gross revenues from Federal awards; and the public does not have access to this information about the compensation of the senior executives of the entity through periodic reports filed under section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(a), 78o(d)) or section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.) Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Education (Department) was not in compliance with FSRS reporting requirements. Subawards were not reported or not reported accurately to FSRS. Context: Sixty subawards were selected for testing and the following exceptions were noted: • 52 of 60 subawards were not reported to FSRS. • 5 of 60 subawards were reported to FSRS approximately one year after they were due. One subaward was issued in December 2021 and was not reported until January 2023. Four subawards were issued in February and March 2023 but were not reported until April 2024. SEE SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FOR CHART/TABLE Cause: The Department’s procedures and internal controls are not sufficient to ensure that subawards are reported timely and accurately to FSRS. Effect: Subawards were not reported to FSRS in accordance with FFATA requirements. Questioned costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend the Department review and enhance internal controls and procedures to ensure that all required subawards are reported timely and accurately to FSRS no later than the end of the month following the month of issuance. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-019 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425R Award Number and Year: S425R210006, 2021-2023 Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions - Identifying Non-Public Schools under ARP EANS that Enroll a Significant Percentage of Students from Low-Income Families and are Most Impacted by the COVID-19 Emergency (SEA) Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Under section 2002(a) of the ARP Act, services or assistance to non-public schools under the ARP EANS program are limited to nonpublic schools that enroll a significant percentage of students from low-income families and are most impacted by the COVID–19 emergency. Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Education (Department) was unable to provide documentation supporting its compliance with program requirements related to identifying non-public schools under ARP EANS that enroll a significant percentage of students from low-income families and are most impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. Context: The Department failed to provide supporting documentation to auditors. Therefore, compliance with program requirements could not be tested. Cause: The Department did not provide the requested documentation in a timely manner to allow auditors to test compliance with the federal requirement. Effect: The Department was not able to support compliance with the grantor’s reporting requirements. Questioned costs: Undetermined, based on the information provided during the audit, questioned costs could not be determined. Recommendation: We recommend the Department develop internal controls and procedures to ensure compliance with program requirements related to identifying non-public schools under ARP EANS that enroll a significant percentage of students from low-income families and are most impacted by the COVID-19 emergency and that the documentation supporting compliance is maintained and readily available for review. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.
Reference Number: 2024-020 Prior Year Finding: 2023-012 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency Name: Bowie State University (BSU) Federal Program: Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing Number: 84.031B, 84.031E, 84.031K Award Number and Year: P031B220039(10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031E200007 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031K190021 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Activities/Costs Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR § 200.403, except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award to be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award regarding types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. (d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost. (e) Be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), except for state and local governments and Indian tribes only, as otherwise provided for in this part. (f) Not be included as a cost or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements of any other federally-financed program in either the current or a prior period. See also §200.306 Cost sharing or matching paragraph (b). (g) Be adequately documented. See also §200.300 Statutory and national policy requirements through 200.309 Period of performance of this part. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: Time and Effort documentation was not documented and reviewed timely. Questioned costs: None. Context: For all seventeen samples selected for testing, Time and Effort was not documented in a timely manner or reviewed appropriately. Cause: The Institution’s internal controls were not operating effectively to ensure that time and effort reporting was performed and documented in a timely manner in accordance with federal requirements. Effect: Expenditures may be incorrectly charged to the program. Recommendation: We recommend that the Institution strengthen its internal controls to ensure that Time and Effort is documented, and expenditures are reviewed and adjusted for, if necessary, in a timely manner. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.
Reference Number: 2024-021 Prior Year Finding: 2023-013 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency Name: Coppin State University (CSU) Federal Program: Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing Number: 84.031B, 84.031E Award Number and Year: P031B170054(10/1/2021-9/30/2024), P031B220065(10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031E200078 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Activities/Costs Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR § 200.403, except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award to be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award regarding types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. (d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost. (e) Be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), except for state and local governments and Indian tribes only, as otherwise provided for in this part. (f) Not be included as a cost or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements of any other federally-financed program in either the current or a prior period. See also §200.306 Cost sharing or matching paragraph (b). (g) Be adequately documented. See also §§200.300 Statutory and national policy requirements through 200.309 Period of performance of this part. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: Coppin State University (Institution) did not adjust the employee’s payroll costs to reflect the reported effort. We noted that the actual time and effort charged to the grant did not agree to the time and effort report. Questioned costs: $45 Context: For one out of ten samples selected for testing, the payroll calculation did not agree to the employee's time and effort report. Cause: The Institution’s internal controls were not operating effectively to ensure that time and effort reporting was accurate and agreed with supporting documentation. Effect: Expenditures may be incorrectly charged to the program. Recommendation: We recommend that the Institution strengthen its internal controls to ensure that Time and Effort is documented, expenditures are reviewed and adjusted for, if necessary, in a timely manner. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.
Reference Number: 2024-022 Prior Year Finding: 2023-015 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency Name: Coppin State University (CSU), Bowie State University (BSU), University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Federal Program: Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing Number: 84.031B, 84.031E, 84.031K Award Number and Year: CSU - P031B170054(10/1/2021-9/30/2024), P031B220065(10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031E200078 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024), BSU - P031B220039(10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031E200007 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031K190021 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024), UMES - P031B220031(10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031E200003 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024), P031K190004 (10/1/2022-9/30/2024) Compliance Requirement: Suspension & Debarment Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR 200.213 Suspension and Debarment restricts awards, subawards, and contracts with certain parties that are debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs or activities. 2 CFR 180.300 states that an entity may determine suspension and debarment status by: (a) Checking SAM Exclusions; or (b) Collecting a certification from that person; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The institutions listed above did not determine the suspension and debarment status of contractors with expenditures exceeding $25,000 during the fiscal year as required by federal regulations. Questioned costs: Undetermined. Context: The suspension and debarment status for six out of fifteen items tested were not documented before the time of procurement. Cause: The Universities’ controls were not sufficient to ensure that contractors’ suspension and debarment status was documented prior to Effect: Federal funds may be paid to parties that are ineligible. Recommendation: We recommend the Universities evaluate their policies procedures to ensure that suspension and debarment requirements are being met prior to entering into transactions with contractors. Policies and procedures should reiterate the three options for determining suspension and debarment status listed in 2 CFR 180.300. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.
Reference Number: 2024-023 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education State Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Award Number and Year: H027A230035 (7/1/2023 – 9/30/2024) H173A230089 (7/1/2023 – 9/30/2024) Compliance Requirement: Period of Performance Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Material Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: A non-federal entity may charge only allowable costs incurred during the approved budget period of a federal award’s period of performance and any costs incurred before the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity made the federal award that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity (2 CFR sections 200.308 200.309 and 200.403(h)). A period of performance may contain one or more budget periods. Internal Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a 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 comply with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The Department of Education (Department) charged costs to the federal grant prior to the allowable start of the period of performance. We noted that five of the seven exceptions were incurred from 213 to 92 days prior to the beginning of the period of performance. Context: Seven of eleven transactions selected for testing were incurred prior to the allowable start of the period of performance. Cause: The Department’s procedures were not operating sufficiently to ensure that expenditures charged to the program were incurred within the awards’ period of performance. Internal controls did not prevent or detect the errors. Effect: Costs could be deemed unallowable by the awarding agency if funds are expended outside of the allowable period of performance. Questioned costs: $4,411, which represents the total of the expenditures incurred prior to the awards’ period of performance. Recommendation: The Department should review and enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that it charges expenditures to the program that are incurred within an award’s allowable period of performance. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding.