Findings Citing § 200.430

Findings and Questioned Costs Related to Federal Awards Finding Number: 2025‐001 Repeat Finding: Yes, 2024‐002 Program Name/Assistance Listing Title: Indian School Equalization Program Assistance Listing Number: 15.042 Federal Agency: U.S Department of Interior Federal Award Number: A24AV00758 Pass‐Through Agency: Bureau of Indian Education Questioned Costs: $2,279 Type of Finding: Noncompliance, Significant Deficiency Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Criteria According to Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.430, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition Employees were not always paid in accordance with contracts. Cause The School lacked adequate internal controls over payroll. The School's process did not include a review of that payroll data entered into the system and did not include a review of the payroll register before the pay was processed. Effect The School’s internal controls over payroll were not adequate to ensure employees are paid in accordance with their contracts. Context For two of 40 employees reviewed, employees were not paid in accordance with their approved contracts resulting in a net overpayment of $1,811. One employee was overpaid $2,279, and the second employee was underpaid $468. Recommendation The School should implement review procedures and controls to ensure employees are paid in accordance with their contracts. Views of Responsible Officials See Corrective Action Plan.

2025-001 U.S. Department of Education Passed-through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Special Education Cluster (IDEA) – ALN 84.027 & 84.173 Material Weakness in Internal Controls over Compliance and Compliance Finding Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.430(i) of the Uniform Guidance, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Semi-annual or monthly time and effort certifications are to be utilized if the non-federal entity’s records do not meet the related standards described in the Uniform Guidance. Condition: Semi-annual time and effort certifications were not maintained for grant employees whose salaries and wages were not supported by detailed time records. Cause: The School did not follow their policies and procedures for time and effort certifications. Effect: The School is not in compliance with applicable cost principles related to salaries and wages. Questioned Costs: $77,838 Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No. Recommendation: The School should implement procedures to obtain time and effort certifications from grant employees whose wages are not supported with detailed time records. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding.

Criteria Payroll costs charged to Federal awards must be allowable, allocable, and supported by records that accurately reflect the work performed, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.430(i). Non-Federal entities are required to establish and maintain effective internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that payroll charges comply with Federal requirements. Specific requirements for Research and Development involve ensuring payroll costs were reasonable and necessary for performance of the R&D effort identified in the applicable award. Condition The College’s documented control design requires review and approval of employee timesheets (hourly employees) or effort percentage reports (salaried employees) by the Principal Investigator (PI) or an immediate supervisor to evidence that time charged to R&D awards reflects actual work performed. However, this control was not operating effectively, as 18 out of the 40 samples selected lacked evidence of required review. Cause The condition occurred because the College’s designed control requiring PI or direct supervisor review of employee timesheets or effort percentage reports was not operating effectively in practice. While the control was intended to be performed through the Kronos timekeeping system, system and workflow limitations prevented consistent requirement of PI or supervisor approvals within the system during the audit period. Additionally, the College did not have compensating procedures in place to detect or remediate missing required approvals when Kronos approval evidence was not obtained. As a result, the control was not consistently operating for employees charging time to R&D awards. Possible Asserted Affect The lack of Principal Investigator (PI) or supervisor review of timesheets increases the risk that payroll costs charged to Federal Awards may not be supported or reflect actual work performed on the sponsored projects. This condition may result in noncompliance with 2 CFR 200.430(i) and limits the College’s ability to demonstrate that payroll expenditures charged to Federal awards were incurred for allowable activities and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the awards. Questioned Costs No questioned costs were identified. Statistical Sampling The sample was not intended to be, and was not a statistically valid sample. Repeat Finding The conditions found do not constitute a repeat finding from the prior year. Recommendation We recommend that the College ensure consistent documentation of PI or supervisor review of employee timesheets and/or effort percentage reports charged to Federal R&D awards by formalizing procedures and configuring the timekeeping system to require and retain evidence of approval. The College should also implement monitoring controls to identify missing approvals and ensure compliance with Federal award requirements. Views of Responsible Officials The identified conditions related to timesheets for hourly student employees. To mitigate the risk of missing approval documentation for payroll charged to Federal R&D awards, the College is formalizing procedures requiring PI or supervisor review of applicable timesheets, configuring the approval workflow in Workday to require and retain evidence of approval, and implementing periodic monitoring to identify and correct missing approvals. These corrective actions are being implemented in fiscal year 2026.

FINDING 2025-005 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.425D, 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D210013, S425U210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2023-005. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 22 MICHIGAN CITY AREA SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Condition and Context The COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) grant was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to respond to the Coronavirus outbreak and assist schools in creating healthy learning environments, return students to classrooms, and address local needs. The ESF grant was further funded by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. The School Corporation did not have effective internal controls in place over the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A sample of 13 payroll claims paid from the School Corporation's ESF grant were selected for testing. Of the sample, 6 employee pay rates could not be verified to a School Board-approved, allowable hourly pay rate for a high dosage tutor position. High dosage tutors were paid anywhere from $20 to $77 an hour. The School Corporation was unable to provide documentation that the School Board approved a pay rate for the high dosage tutor positions during the audit period. The total amount paid to high dosage tutors during the audit period was $472,354, which were considered questioned costs. In addition, the School Corporation paid a consulting firm to provide general support to the finance department. The expenditures were deemed unallowable as there was no documentation available that the consultants were assisting the School Corporation in preventing, preparing for, and responding to COVID-19. The total amount expended to the consultant during the audit period was $514,156, which were considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to the costs noted above for the ESSER II and ESSER III grants. 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. . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 23 MICHIGAN CITY AREA 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: (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 recipient or subrecipient. (d) Be accorded consistent treatment. For example, a cost must 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 requirements of any other federally-financed program in either the current or a prior period. See § 200.306(b). (g) Be adequately documented. See §§ 200.300 through 200.309. (h) Administrative closeout costs may be incurred until the due date of the final report(s). If incurred, these costs must be liquidated prior to the due date of the final report(s) and charged to the final budget period of the award unless otherwise specified by the Federal agency. All other costs must be incurred during the approved budget period. At its discretion, the Federal agency is authorized to waive prior written approvals to carry forward unobligated balances to subsequent budget periods. See § 200.308(g)(3). 2 CFR 200.430(i)(1) states in part: "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. . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 24 MICHIGAN CITY AREA SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.404 states: "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. (c) Market prices for comparable goods or services for the geographic area. (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." 34 CFR 76.731 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records to show its compliance with program requirements." Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1924 (2020) states in part: "For an additional amount for "Education Stabilization Fund".to remain available through September 30, 2022, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically, or internationally . . ." Cause Payroll records were incomplete as the School Corporation was unable to provide documentation that all rates of pay were approved by the School Board. The School Corporation did not include the consultants above in the budget submitted as part of the grant application, and so the School Corporation did not get the required prior approval for the purchases. Effect Without proper documentation, the allowability of the ESF grant expenditures cannot be substantiated, creating a risk that unallowable costs may be charged to the federal grant. Additionally, we could not determine how the expenditures met the purpose of the program. Questioned Costs We identified $986,510 in known questioned costs as described above in the Condition and Context. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 25 MICHIGAN CITY AREA SCHOOLS SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommend that management of the School Corporation establish a proper system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure rates of pay are approved by the School Board and adequately documented and that costs are allowable. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

Significant Deficiency 2025-001. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles United States Department of Education, Passed Through New York State, Department of Education: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies ALN: 84.010A Criteria: Salaries and wages charged to federal awards must be supported by documentation that meets the standards prescribed by the Uniform Guidance Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430. Condition: Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430 of the Uniform Guidance requires that charges to “Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed.” The documentation should support the distribution of the employee’s compensation among specific activities if the employee works on more than one federal award, or a federal award and non-federal award. The preparation of personnel activity reports (PAR) or periodic certifications or the equivalent is the most effective way to comply with this requirement. During the current year, the District prepared periodic certification equivalents, but it did not comply with the documentation standards prescribed in Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430; the amount of one employee’s actual payroll charged to the Title I federal award was less than the allocation percentage on the periodic certification reports that were signed by the employee’s supervisor. Cause: The staff who was responsible for maintaining records that accurately reflect the work performed, as described in Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430, to support salaries charged to federal awards, prepared semi-annual periodic certification reports using a different full time equivalent (FTE) allocation than what was reflected in the employee’s actual payroll records. The District’s internal procedures did not identify the discrepancy. Effect: Noncompliance could result in the incorrect amount for services rendered being charged to the federal award. Questioned Costs: Dollar amount undetermined. Context: The District maintains time records for employees charged to federal awards using a different FTE allocation than the employee’s actual payroll allocation. A total of 18 employees’ wages were charged to the Title I grant. Audit samples selected based on payroll transactions covered 9 of the employees. Condition was noted on payroll transactions for one of the 9 employees in the audit sample. Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: The District should revise its procedures to prepare documentation to support actual salaries and wages charged to federal awards after the work was performed in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance at Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430. Views of Responsible Officials of Auditee: The District will adopt procedures to ensure appropriate documentation will be prepared to comply with Subpart E, 2 CFR §200.430.

2025-007: Federal Awards – Allowable Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development CFDA No.: 14.218 Federal Program: Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Federal Award Year: 2025 Control Category: Allowable Costs Known Questioned Costs: $17,375 (sample) Projected Questioned Costs: $217,355 (projected) Condition During our testing of payroll expenditures, we noted that employee salaries and wages were charged to the federal program using predetermined allocation percentages rather than actual time recorded on employee timesheets or activity reports. Employees working on multiple programs did not maintain documentation identifying the actual hours worked on each program during the pay period. Instead, payroll costs were distributed across funding sources using fixed percentages established by management. Criteria 2 CFR 200.430(i), Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, states, in part: “Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed…” Charges must “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;…” And “budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards.” Cause The City's payroll system charges time for employees each pay period based on an allocation rather than actual hours documented on the employee’s timesheet. Effect Because payroll costs were not supported by records reflecting the actual work performed, the City cannot demonstrate that salary and wage costs charged to the federal program were accurate and properly allocable. As a result, payroll expenditures charged to the program may be unallowable under federal cost principles, and there is an increased risk that federal funds could be misallocated among programs.Questioned Costs There were known questioned costs in the amount of $17,375 from the sample tested and $217,355 of projected questioned costs from projections. These costs are unsupported due to inadequate time documentation, not necessarily unallowable.

2025-008: Federal Awards – Allowable Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development CFDA No.: 14.871 Federal Program: Housing Choice Voucher Program Federal Award Year: 2025 Control Category: Allowable Costs Known Questioned Costs: $29,924 (sample) Projected Questioned Costs: $214,045 (projected) Condition During our testing of payroll expenditures, we noted that employee salaries and wages were charged to the federal program using predetermined allocation percentages rather than actual time recorded on employee timesheets or activity reports. Employees working on multiple programs did not maintain documentation identifying the actual hours worked on each program during the pay period. Instead, payroll costs were distributed across funding sources using fixed percentages established by management. Criteria 2 CFR 200.430(i), Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, states, in part: “Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed…” Charges must “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;…” And “budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards.” Cause The City's payroll system charges time for employees each pay period based on an allocation rather than actual hours documented on the employee’s timesheet. Effect Because payroll costs were not supported by records reflecting the actual work performed, the City cannot demonstrate that salary and wage costs charged to the federal program were accurate and properly allocable. As a result, payroll expenditures charged to theprogram may be unallowable under federal cost principles, and there is an increased risk that federal funds could be misallocated among programs. Questioned Costs There were known questioned costs in the amount of $29,924 from the sample tested and $214,045 of projected questioned costs from projections. These costs are unsupported due to inadequate time documentation, not necessarily unallowable. Recommendation We recommend that the City charge time to the program based on actual hours worked per the employees' timesheets.

Finding 2025-003 - U.S. Department of Education (USD), TRIO Programs (Significant Deficiencies): Information on the federal program – Student Support Services, FAL No. 84.042A, June 30, 2025; Ronald McNair Program, FAL No. 84.217A, June 30, 2025. a) Cash Management/Drawdown Supporting Documentation and Recordkeeping Criteria – Under 2 CFR 200.305, non-Federal entities must request Federal funds only for allowable program costs that have been incurred, and must maintain contemporaneous supporting documentation demonstrating: 1. Actual, allowable expenditures existed at the time Federal funds were drawn; and 2. Records supporting the nature and timing of those expenditures were on file and readily available. These requirements ensure that drawdowns reflect immediate cash needs supported by verifiable program expenditures. Condition – During our testing of cash drawdowns, we noted in four (3) of the four (4) drawdowns tested, the College did not maintain adequate supporting documentation to substantiate that allowable expenditures had been incurred at the time of the drawdowns. Additionally, although drawdowns exceeded recorded expenditures at certain points during the year, the College did not have Federal cash on hand at year-end. Additionally, two (2) of these four (4) unsupported transactions lacked evidence of required approval, such as documented review or authorization prior to requesting Federal funds. Cause – The condition resulted from insufficient internal controls over the drawdown and documentation retention processes, including the absence of a timely reconciliation between recorded expenditures and drawdown requests. Effect – Requesting Federal funds without maintaining adequate documentation of actual expenditures increases the risk of noncompliance with Federal cash management requirements and may result in temporary use of Federal funds for unallowable purposes. As a result, questioned costs totaling $52,159 were identified. Questioned Costs – $52,159 Program Title FAL No. Questioned Costs Ronald McNair Program 84.217A $ 32,684 Student Support Services 84.042A 19,475 Total Questioned Costs $ 52,159 Auditor’s Perspective – Although no Federal cash was on hand at year-end and funds were ultimately applied to allowable TRIO costs, the absence of adequate support at the time of the drawdowns constitutes a compliance deviation. Without contemporaneous documentation, the accuracy and allowability of drawdown requests cannot be assured. Repeat Finding – No. Auditor's Recommendation – We recommend the College strengthen controls over the cash drawdown process by: • Ensuring that reimbursement requests are supported by complete and readily available documentation at the time of submission; and Requiring contemporaneous reconciliations between expenditures and drawdown requests; • Implementing improved supervisory review procedures prior to requesting funds. View of Responsible Officials – The College now mandates that G5 drawdown requests include approved documentation stored on the accounting drive, effective July 31, 2025. b) Time and Effort Reporting & Grant Salary Accuracy Criteria – (Compensation – Personnel Services Documentation Requirements): Under 2 CFR 200.430(i), charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed, and such records must: • Be supported by a system of internal controls providing reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; • Reflect 100% of the employee’s compensated activities, both Federal and non-Federal; • Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; and • Be completed and documented in a timely and consistent manner. For TRIO programs, personnel costs must be supported by complete and accurate documentation demonstrating the portion of time dedicated to allowable TRIO activities Condition – During our testing of time and effort reporting and salaries charged to the TRIO programs, we identified the following exceptions: 1. Incorrect Salary Charge – For one (1) of the nine (9) time and effort reports tested, the salary expense charged to the McNair grant did not agree with the employee’s documented distribution of time. As a result, $24,947 of personnel costs charged to the grant were not supported by the corresponding time and effort report. 2. Incomplete Time and Effort Reports – Two (2) of the nine (9) reports tested, (both were for the same employee noted in the error above), were incomplete and did not reflect the employee’s full allocation of time across both restricted (grant-funded) and unrestricted activities. These omissions resulted in incomplete documentation to support the distribution of payroll costs. The College corrected the documentation after our inquiry; however, the corrections were not in place at the time of testing. Cause – The condition resulted from inconsistent application of time and effort reporting procedures and insufficient review controls to verify the completeness and accuracy of time distribution records prior to charging payroll costs to TRIO programs. Effect – Charging salaries without accurate, complete, and timely time and effort documentation increases the risk of unallowable personnel costs being charged to the program. As a result, questioned costs totaling $24,947 were identified for unsupported salary charges. Additionally, incomplete reports undermine the reliability of payroll allocations used to support Federal expenditures. Questioned Costs – Ronald McNair Program, FAL No. 84.217A: $24,947. Auditor’s Perspective – Although the College corrected the incomplete reports after our inquiry, corrections made after the fact do not demonstrate compliance at the time costs were charged. Accurate and complete time and effort reporting is essential to ensuring that salary costs charged to TRIO programs are allowable and properly supported. Repeat Finding – No. Auditor’s Recommendation – We recommend the College strengthen internal controls over time and effort reporting for TRIO programs by: • Ensuring all reports reflect 100% of compensated activities for each employee; • Implementing a supervisory review process to confirm accuracy before payroll is allocated to the grant; • Providing refresher training to staff responsible for preparing and approving time and effort documentation; and • Maintaining documentation that is complete, accurate, and contemporaneous with the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials – Time and Effort reports must be submitted monthly with supervisor sign-off before reaching the Office of Sponsor Programs, showing 100% time allocation. Any changes will require a Personnel Action Form and administrative signatures of approval.

Payroll Federal Program and Specific Federal Award Identification CFDA Title and Number 84.031 Higher Education Institution Aid Federal Award Year June 30, 2025 Federal Agencies U. S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity Not applicable Criteria In accordance with Uniform Guidance § 200.430, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and must be supported by a system of internal controls, including alignment with personnel documentation. Conditions and Contexts Out of twenty-five (25) payroll transactions tested: • Five (5) salary amounts, as calculated per labor distribution reports, did not agree to the approved personnel action forms; and • Two (2) time and effort report percentages did not agree to the percentages reflected on the personnel action forms. Cause The University lacked adequate controls to ensure that payroll charges were consistent with approved personnel action forms and supporting time and effort documentation. Questioned Costs For the purposes of this condition, I have not questioned any costs. Effect Payroll costs charged to the federal program may be inaccurate or unsupported, increasing the risk of unallowable costs. Repeat Finding No. Recommendation The University should strengthen controls over payroll processing and review to ensure that salary charges and time and effort reporting agree with approved personnel action forms. Management should also perform periodic reconciliations and supervisory reviews. Management’s Response The University acknowledges the finding related to discrepancies between payroll charges, personnel action forms, and time and effort reporting. We understand the requirement that all salary and wage charges to federal awards must be supported by accurate records and internal controls in accordance with Uniform Guidance §200.430. Corrective Actions 1. Alignment of Personnel Actions and Payroll Distribution: The University will implement additional review steps to ensure that labor distribution reports match the approved personnel action forms before payroll is charged to the grant. Any discrepancies must now be corrected before processing. 2. Strengthened Time and Effort Verification: Time and effort reports must now be reviewed and reconciled against the percentages authorized on personnel action forms. Reports that do not match will be returned to departments for correction before certification. 3. Enhanced Internal Controls and Documentation: A standardized monthly reconciliation process will be established to ensure consistency between personnel records, effort reporting, and payroll charges. 4. Staff Training: Training will be provided to fiscal managers, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, human resources, and payroll personnel on Uniform Guidance requirements, proper effort reporting, and documentation standards. 5. Periodic Monitoring: Supervisory reviews will be conducted to ensure continued compliance and to identify discrepancies proactively. The University believes these corrective measures will strengthen internal controls and ensure that payroll charges to federal programs are accurate, allowable, and properly documented.

2025-005 Allowability of Payroll Expenditures U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Continuum of Care Program—Assistance Listing No. 14.267 Hennepin County Contract HS00001366; Grant Period – Year ended June 30, 2025 Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance, Noncompliance Other Matter Criteria: 2 CFR 200.430(g)(1)(i) states charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed, supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002 for further context. Condition: Payroll controls were not adequately designed or implemented to accurately account for payroll expenditures charged to the Continuum of Care Program for the first half of fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024). In addition, supporting payroll documentation was missing or incomplete for certain individual payroll allocations charged to the program during this period. Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002 for further context. Cause: Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002. Effect: Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002. Context: A statistically valid sample of 41 payroll entries by employee totaling $67,977 was selected for testing from a population of more than 250 individual payroll entries totaling $208,015. The audit identified nine instances in which payroll controls were not followed. Refer to Financial Statement Finding 2025-002 for further context. Extrapolated likely questioned costs total $16,525, representing 2.9% of total payroll costs allocated to this program. Known Questioned Costs: Total known questioned costs of $4,940. Identification of Repeat Finding: 2024-001 - Lack of Documentation in Personnel Files Recommendation: Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Refer to financial statement finding 2025-002.

Material Weakness in Internal Controls over Compliance and Noncompliance Condition: The Organization could not provide documentation to support that personnel costs were charged to the federal awards based on actual costs and time spent on the federal program. Criteria: Per §200.430(g)(1) of the Code of Federal Regulations, charges to Federal awards for personnel costs must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must support the distribution of employees’ salary among specific activities or cost objectives and must not exceed the actual time worked. Per § 200.303 of the Code of Federal Regulations, recipients must establish, document, and maintain internal controls over Federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient is managing the Federal Award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Cause: Due to staff transitions during the year, the Organization could not provide documentation to support the amount of personnel costs charged to federal awards. While staff reported time spent on work performed under the federal awards, no review of the reported time was documented and no allocation documentation could be provided to trace the amount of personnel costs charged to federal awards to the time reported by staff. Effect: Federal expenditures on the Schedule of Federal Awards (SEFA) could be overstated resulting in noncompliance with federal cost principles and unallowable cost. Context: During our testing of payroll transactions charged to the federal program, we selected a sample of four out of 26 payroll periods to test. In all four payroll periods tested, the amount charged to the federal program could not be supported by documentation of actual personnel costs incurred for time spent on program activities. Documentation of the review of time spent on program activities reported by staff also could not be provided. Questioned costs total $436,615, which is the total amount of personnel costs reported under the major program grants for the year. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization implement written policies and procedures to ensure that payroll charges to federal awards are based on actual costs incurred. Employees should prepare time and effort documentation reflecting actual hours worked on the federal program activities for each payroll period. This documentation should be reviewed, and evidence of this review should be maintained. This documentation should be used to determine the amount of personnel costs to charge to the federal award, and documentation of this allocation should be maintained. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.

2025-006 – Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal program information: Funding agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Title: Rural Health Outreach and Rural Network Development Program Assistance listing numbers: 93.912 Award year: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2025 Criteria: According to 2 CFR Part 200.403, to be allowable under federal awards, costs must be adequately documented, be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the federal award, and be allocable thereto under the principles in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E. Additionally, according to 2 CFR Part 200.430, charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed, be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, and comply with established accounting policies and practices of the entity. Condition: For the months of May and June 2025, SFRC allocated 100% of the payroll costs of two employees to two separate grants of this program. This resulted in the program being charged twice for the same payroll costs in these months. This error also increased the direct cost base of the program, which also caused indirect costs to be over-charged to the program. Context: Two of ten employees tested in this program. Questioned Costs: Payroll costs of $12,409 and indirect costs of $3,944. Cause: SFRC allocates payroll costs to its federal programs using journal entries. These journal entries are not being independently reviewed and approved prior to posting. Effect: The program was over-charged for payroll costs and indirect costs in fiscal year 2025. Auditor’s Recommendation: SFRC should implement a review and approval process for the journal entries posted to allocate payroll costs to its federal programs. Management’s Response: This was a one-time error when the checks and balances process did not take place because of the timing of notification of an extended grant. The May and June 2025 period was an overlap due to this extension, and normal processes were not followed. Management developed processes accepted by government funders, conducted training to a small group, and began implementation. Accounting staffing was not sufficient to fully train and implement. Contractors have been tasked with training and implementation during fiscal year 2026. Revised accounting staff structure will provide better on-going implementation and monitoring compliance.

Federal Agency: United States Department of Education Federal Program Name: Special Education Cluster (IDEA programs) Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: H027A240064-2024; H173A240070-2024 Pass-Through Agency: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Pass-Through Number(s): 2025 - 403619 - DPI - YIPPE – 342, 2025-403619-DPI-FLOW-341, 2025-403619-DPI-FLOW-341, 2025 - 403619 - DPI - FNC – 342, 2025-403619-DPI-ELIMG-348, 2025-403619-DPI-ELTAI-348, 2025-403619-DPI-PRESCH-347 Award Period: July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with 2 CFR 200.303(a), the District must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the District is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the federal award. In accordance with 2 CFR 200.430(h), costs charged to federal awards must be incurred during the approved budget period as defined in the grant agreement. Condition: For one (1) of the 40 payments to vendors selected for testing, the District did not correctly allocate the cost to the proper grant period. This sample was not statistically valid. Questioned costs: Cost in the amount of $29,850 were identified as being related to periods outside the grants award period. Context: One instance of a payment to a vendor related to services that will provide benefit during the subsequent fiscal year were accrued to the fiscal year and grant period under audit. Cause: From 2023 through 2025, the District experienced substantial turnover within the finance department, including management positions. Individuals in these roles lacked the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to oversee day-to-day operations, resulting in controls not operating effectively to ensure proper classification of vendor payments by applicable grant period and fiscal year. Effect: This resulted in amounts claimed for reimbursement that did not meet eligibility requirements for reimbursement from the grant award. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend the District implement controls that allow for the identification and proper classification of vendor payments to applicable grant period. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with this finding.

Federal Agency: United State Department of Education Federal Program Name: Title II, Part A – Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants Special Education Cluster (IDEA) Title I A – Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing Number: 84.367 84.027, 84.173 84.010 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: S367A240047-2024 H027A240064-2024, H173A240070-2024 S010A240049-2024 Pass-Through Agency: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Pass-Through Number(s): 2025 - 403619 - DPI - YIPPE - 342, 2025-403619-DPI-FLOW-341, 2025-403619-DPI-FLOW-341, 2025 - 403619 - DPI - FNC - 342, 2025-403619-DPI-ELIMG-348, 2025-403619-DPI-ELTAI-348, 2025-403619-DPI-PRESCH-347, 2025-403619-DPI-TI-A-141 Award Period: July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with 2 CFR 200.303(a), the District must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the District entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the federal award. In accordance with 2 CFR 200.430(i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Additionally, 2 CFR 200.403(g) requires that costs are adequately documented to be allowable under federal awards. Condition: During testing, instances were identified in which the semi-annual certifications utilized by the District to support time charged to federal awards completed and approved prior to the final claims. Title II, Part A – Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (ALN 84.367) Three (3) of the 40 individuals selected for testing time was supported by a semi-annual certification that was not approved timely. The semi-annual certification was approved after the submission of the final reimbursement claim. This was not a statistically valid sample. Special Education Cluster (IDEA) (ALN 84.027, 84.173) Two (2) of the 40 individuals selected for testing time was supported by a semi-annual certification that was not approved timely. The semi-annual certification was approved after the submission of the final reimbursement claim. This was not a statistically valid sample. Title I-A – Grants to Local Educational Agencies (ALN 84.010) Three (3) of the 60 individuals selected for testing time was supported by a semi-annual certification that was not approved timely. The semi-annual certification was approved after the submission of the final reimbursement claim. This was not a statistically valid sample. Questioned costs: None Context: The District supports time charged to federal awards via semi-annual certifications which are approved by the grant administrator or the building principal. In order for a cost to be supported at the time of the final reimbursement, the semi-annual certifications should be approved by the grant administrator or the building principal. During the fiscal year under audit the collection and review of these certifications were delayed, resulting in some being collected after the final claim dates. Cause: From 2023 through 2025, the District experienced substantial turnover within the finance department, including management positions. Individuals in these roles lacked the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to oversee day-to-day operations, resulting in delays in execution of controls and collection of required supporting time and effort reporting. Effect: Lack of timely collection and review of approved semi-annual could result in unallowable costs may be submitted for reimbursement. Repeat Finding: This is a repeat of prior year finding 2024-009 Recommendation: We recommend the District design and implement controls to ensure semi-annual time and effort certification are obtained and reviewed timely. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Finding No. 2025-063 Federal Awarding Agency: U. S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Impact: Significant Deficiency, Noncompliance AL Number and Title: 20.205 Highway Planning and Construction (HPC) Federal Award Number: 0956(036), 0A45(034), 0851(076), 0002(514), 0617(003), 0002(488), 0A43(024), 0A43(020) Applicable Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Condition: Three of 40 timesheets tested (eight percent) were entered into the State’s accounting system with incorrect coding. Context: DOTPF’s staff allocated personal service costs to federal programs based on program, activity, and profile codes that identify specific federal highway projects. A supervisor reviews the coding and hours in the State’s accounting system to verify the accuracy of time entered by employees. A random sample of 40 timesheets that charged personal service costs to the HPC program in FY 25 was tested. Auditors found three timesheets were entered into the accounting system using incorrect program, activity, or profile codes, resulting in incorrect federal projects being charged. Cause: Human error resulted in timesheets being entered incorrectly. Additionally, supervisory review procedures were inadequate to identify and correct miscoded timesheets. Criteria: Title 2 CFR 200.303(a) requires the State to establish and maintain effective internal controls over federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the State is managing federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the grant awards. Title 2 CFR 200.430 requires that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. The records must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Furthermore, the records must comply with the entity’s established accounting procedures. Effect: Incorrect coding of personal service expenditures may result in project managers relying on misclassified information to manage and report on the status of the project. The lack of adequate controls could result in unallowable personal services expenditures. Noncompliance with federal regulations may result in the federal awarding agency imposing additional conditions or taking corrective action including withholding/terminating funding. Questioned Costs: None Recommendation: DOTPF’s Division of Administrative Services (DAS) director should provide training to staff on timesheet processing procedures and strengthen supervisory review procedures to ensure personal service expenditures are accurately charged to federal projects. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with this finding.

Finding No. 2025-068 Federal Awarding Agency: USDOT Impact: Significant Deficiency, Noncompliance AL Number and Title: 20.532 Passenger Ferry Grant Program, Electric or Low-Emitting Ferry Pilot Program, and Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program (PFG) Federal Award Number: AK-2024-005 Applicable Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Condition: For two out of 40 timesheets tested (five percent), the employee’s hours were inaccurately recorded in the State’s accounting system. Context: Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) payroll costs are calculated based on regular hours worked, overtime hours worked, hazardous activities performed, and the type of work completed. These details are recorded on employee timesheets via various coding. For two AMHS employees, the amounts entered into the State accounting system did not accurately reflect overtime or the correct pay associated with the activities performed, resulting in incorrect employee compensation. Cause: Human error resulted in the incorrect entries into the State accounting system. Review procedures were insufficient to detect and correct the data entry errors. Criteria: Title 2 CFR 200.303(a) requires the State to establish and maintain effective internal controls over federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the State is managing federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the grant awards. Title 2 CFR 200.430 requires that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. The records must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Furthermore, the records must comply with the entity’s established accounting procedures. Effect: Incorrect recording of employee time in the accounting system can result in unallowable compensation. Inadequate controls increase the risk of noncompliance. Noncompliance with federal regulations may lead the federal awarding agency to impose additional conditions or take corrective actions, including withholding or terminating funding. Questioned Costs: None Recommendation: DOTPF’s DAS director should provide staff training on timesheet processing and strengthen supervisory review procedures to ensure employee hours are properly input into the State’s accounting system. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with this finding.

Finding No. 2025-028 Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Impact: Significant Deficiency, Noncompliance AL Number and Title: 66.202 Congressionally Mandated Projects (CMP) Federal Award Number: 02J80201 Applicable Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Condition: One of 10 employee timesheets tested did not support the charges billed to the CMP program. Context: DCCED staff log work hours on timesheets, which includes coding personal service costs to the Rural Utility Business Advisor (RUBA) program . Of the 10 timesheets tested, one timesheet indicated that only a portion of time worked was chargeable to RUBA; however, 100 percent of the employee's time was erroneously charged to the program. Cause: According to DCCED management, the unsupported charges were due to a data entry error. The data entry error was not detected by payroll processing staff due to insufficient review procedures. Criteria: Title 2 CFR 200.303 requires the State to establish and maintain effective internal controls over federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the State is managing federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and terms and conditions of the grant awards. Title 2 CFR 200.430(g)(1) states that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; and 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 allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. Effect: Insufficient payroll processing controls increase the risk of noncompliance and unallowable costs. Noncompliance with federal regulations may result in the federal awarding agency imposing additional conditions or taking corrective action, including reducing/terminating federal funding. Questioned Costs: $2,273 Recommendation: DCCED’s DCRA director should strengthen timesheet processing, review, and approval procedures to ensure personal service costs charged to CMP are accurate and allowable. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with this finding.

(3) Findings and Questions Costs Relating to Federal Awards Finding 2025-001 Federal Program Title - Cancer Control Assitance Listing No. - 93.399 Federal Agency - Department of Health and Human Services - Passed through Marshfield Clinic Federal Award Identification - JHKBV97FZUC5 Grant Award Period - July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Compliance Requirement - Allowable costs/Cost principles, Special Tests and Provisions Criteria: Section 2 CFR section 200.430(d)(2) states allowable compensation for certain employees is subject to a ceiling in accordance with Federal statute. Per NIH Grants Policy Statement, direct salaries of individuals in exces of the rate prescribed in the governing Appropriation Act for NHI will be adjusted in accordance with the legislative salary limitation. Condition found: During our testing of employee compensation of 25 employees, we identified 6 employees compensation exceeded the NIH salary cap provisions as follows: Salaries $161,894 - Fringe benefits $45,330 - Indirect costs $20,723 - Total $227,947 Further, we noted FTCH did not have adequately effective controls in place to ensure FTCH complies with the NIH salary cap provisions. Cause: In discussing these conditions FTCH management stated that based on documentation received as a passthrough entity, they were unaware of the NIH salary cap being applicable. As a result, a control related to the application of the NHI salary cap provisions was not put in place and therefore not operating effectively. Possible Asserted Effect: Failure to adhere to NIH salary cap provisions resulted in unallowable costs being applied to the grant, including salary and associated fringe benefits and indirect costs. Questioned Costs: $227,947 Repeat Finding: A similar finding was not reported in the prior year's audit. Statistical Sampling: The sample was not intended to be, and was not, a statistically valid sample. Recommendation: We recommend FTCH strengthen processes and develop internal controls to ensure FTCH is appropriately monitoring and aplying NHI salary caps. View of Responsible Official: The Organization concurs with this finding. We acknowledge that salary cap limitations were not applied correctly during the period under review and have implemented enhanced controls to prevent recurrence. These corrective actions include strengthened review procedures, augmented pre-submission compliance checks, and targeted traning for staff involved in grants and financial administration. These measurs will be fully in place by May 31, 2026 to ensure consistent and accurate application of NIH salary cap requirements gong forward. The Organization remains committed to strong financial stewardship and full compliance with all applicable Federal regulations and award terms.

2025-002 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Special Education Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Identification Number: H027A230076, H027A230039, FH027A230076 Pass-Through Agency: Massachusetts Department of Education Pass-Through Number(s): 240-563190-2025-0326-5.0, 262-566046-2025-0326-5.0, 0274-000662- 2025-0326 Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 2 Part 200.430 indicates charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Such records must also reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity. Condition and Context: For one (1) of fifteen (15) payroll transactions tested, the time and effort certification was not completed in a timely manner. Questioned Costs: None. Cause: Procedures were not in place to ensure that time and effort certifications were completed in a timely manner for all applicable transactions. Effect: Internal control finding. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend procedures be strengthened to ensure that time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Management agrees with the finding.

2025-002. Payroll (Allowable Costs/Cost Principles) United States Department of Education, Passed-through New York State Department of Education: Special Education Cluster: Special Education Grants to States: IDEA, Part B ALN: 84.027 Pass-through Entity Number: 0032-25-0875 Criteria: Salaries and wages charged to federal awards must be supported by documentation prescribed by the Uniform Guidance at Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430. Such documentation must accurately reflect the work performed and support the distribution of compensation among activities. This includes maintaining appropriate personnel activity reports or equivalent documentation to substantiate amounts charged to federal award programs. Condition: One instance within the audit sample where the semi-annual personnel activity report (PAR) supporting the payroll expenditure charged to the federal award was not maintained for an employee. Cause: The employee whose salary was 100% charged to the federal grant had separated from the District in December 2024; as a result, the PAR was not signed prior to their departure. For employees whose salaries are 100% charged to a federal award, a semi-annual PAR is utilized and signed by the employees in January and June of each school year. Due to the timing of the employee’s separation from the District, the semi-annual PAR was not prepared for the employee’s signature prior to their departure. The District did not have procedures in place to ensure signed PARs are obtained from departing employees before they leave employment, or have an immediate supervisor with knowledge of the employee’s work certify the PAR as an alternative. Effect: The lack of documentation supporting the allocation of payroll costs to the federal award could lead to the costs being disallowed and requiring recoupment. Questioned Costs: Amount undetermined. Context: The District’s Business Office generates monthly PARs for certification by employees whose previous month’s wages and salaries were partially allocated to federal awards programs, and semi-annual PARs for employees whose salaries were 100% allocated to one federal grant program; the PARs are given to the employees for their signature. There were 151 payroll checks charged to the IDEA, Part B grant in the 2024-25 fiscal year, an audit sample size of 10% of the population, which equaled 15 payroll transactions, were selected for testing. Condition was noted in one of the 15 sample selections. Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: The District should review and enhance its procedures for preparing and obtaining certified PARs in a timely manner, particularly in situations where an employee is anticipated to separate from service. Procedures may be enhanced to obtain required signatures prior to an employee’s departure, or to implement an alternative review and approval process, such as having the employee’s immediate supervisor review and sign the PAR, to ensure payroll costs charged to federal awards are supported by proper documentation. Views of Responsible Officials of Auditee: The District’s management agrees with the finding. The process and procedures for obtaining signed PARs from departing employees will be reviewed and corrected.

FINDING 2025-014 Federal Program Information: Research and Development Cluster (various ALN #’s), USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas (ALN 98.001), Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program (ALN 19.020) Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory or Other Citation): B. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Per 2 CFR Part 200.430(g)(1)(vii), budget estimates (meaning, estimates determined before the services are performed alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards, but may be used for interim accounting purposes, provided that: (A) The system for establishing the estimates produces reasonable approximations of the activity performed; (B) Significant changes in the related work activity (as defined by the recipient’s or subrecipient’s written policies) are promptly identified and entered into the records. Short-term (such as one or two months) fluctuations between workload categories do not need to be considered as long as the distribution of salaries and wages is reasonable over the longer term; and (C) The recipient’s or subrecipient’s system of internal controls includes processes to perform periodic after-the-fact reviews of interim charges made to a Federal award based on budget estimates. All necessary adjustments must be made so that the final amount charged to the Federal award is accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition: The University’s system of internal controls did not timely identify missing grant-related earnings certifications. In addition, documentation to support certain cost allocations could not be provided. Cause: Administrative oversight and insufficient internal controls. Effect or Potential Effect: Effort certifications supporting payroll costs charged to federal awards were not completed or appropriately monitored during the six-month period ended June 30, 2025. Questioned Costs: None. Context: • For the Research and Development Cluster, 19 of 40 employees tested did not complete a time and effort certification for the period selected. • For the Charles Rangel Program, 9 of 10 employees tested did not complete a time and effort certification for the period selected. • For the USAID Program, 6 of 10 employees tested did not complete a time and effort certification for the period selected. Identification as a Repeat Finding: This is a repeat of prior year Finding 2024-012. Recommendation: We recommend that the University strengthen its internal controls over effort certifications for federally funded grants by establishing formal procedures to ensure timely completion, review, and monitoring of required certifications. This should include clearly defined roles and responsibilities, automated reminders or tracking mechanisms, periodic management review to identify missing or overdue certifications, and documented follow up procedures to ensure compliance with federal requirements supporting payroll costs charged to federal awards as required. Views of Responsible Officials: The University initiated the Effort Certification process to capture the full calendar year 2025 in April 2026. This represents a one-time extended certification period designed to include previously uncertified periods that had concluded, specifically the second half of FY25 (January–June 2025) and the first half of FY26 (July–December 2025). In May 2025, the non-accounting functions of Grants and Contracts Accounting at Howard University were transitioned to the Office of Research, Sponsored Programs Office. During this organizational transition, the University prioritized the completion and accuracy of all costing allocations to ensure payroll data was complete and reliable for effort certification purposes. This period was also utilized to identify and resolve any backlog of costing allocations and award charges and stabilize the Office of Research. Addressing these items ensured that effort reflected complete and accurate payroll activity, thereby enabling Principal Investigators to appropriately review and certify their effort. The Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) now leads post-award financial oversight and collaborates with Human Resources (HR) and Finance to ensure designated personnel are identified and granted system access to enter costing allocations and labor cost transfers in Workday. In addition, in response to the auditor’s recommendation to enhance internal controls and ensure timely monitoring of effort reporting, Howard University has implemented the following corrective actions: Hired Dedicated Departmental Support – Six College Research Administrators (CRAs) and an Associate Director of CRA’s were hired to support high-volume research colleges. The CRAs ensure timely and accurate labor cost transfers, effort certification, and costing allocation entries during award setup and throughout the award lifecycle. Enhanced Effort Reporting Process – SPO will lead improvements to the effort certification process, including: • Advance communication to PIs, CRAs, and Deans outlining certification deadlines • Clear guidance on when labor cost transfers may occur outside the certification cycle • Reinforcement that all effort changes must be reflected in the effort system to ensure alignment with payroll. • Training – Targeted training will be delivered to Principal Investigators, CRAs, and other research stakeholders to support consistent application of policies and procedures. Monitoring and Oversight – Monthly and quarterly reconciliation reports will be developed to track and validate timely and accurate payroll allocations for research personnel.

Reference Number: 2025-005 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor State Agency: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Federal Program: Employment Service Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 17.207, 17.801 Award Number and Year: 23A55WP000005 (7/1/2023 – 9/30/2026) 24A55WP000063 (7/1/2024 – 9/30/2027) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Time and Effort Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (a), costs of compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy the specific requirements of this part, 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 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) of this section, Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, when applicable. Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: • Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, • Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity, • Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities, • 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, • Comply with the established accounting policies and practices of the non-Federal entity, • 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. 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 Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (the Department) charged budgeted personnel costs to the program instead of actual costs due to errors coding employee timesheets. Context: Four of forty timesheets selected for testing charged costs to the program based on budgeted rates instead of actual time worked per employee timesheets. Combination codes are used by employees to allocate and certify hours worked to Federal grants and employees’ supervisors are required to perform a line-item review of hours spent on each grant before approving timesheets. If a timesheet is approved without the use of combination codes, the system defaults to budgeted grant allocations entered into the Labor Cost Management (LCM) module of the Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS). Specifically, we noted the following: • 2 of 40 employee timesheets selected for testing did not use combination codes and the employees’ time was defaulted to a budgeted grant allocation rather than the employees’ actual time and effort on the program. • 2 of 40 employee timesheets selected for testing had a bilingual differential and were missing combination codes. The payment was not based on the employee’s timesheet but instead was based on a budgeted percentage of time. One employee’s time was overcharged by 25% and the other was overcharged by 40%. Cause: The Department’s controls were not operating effectively to ensure that time and effort reporting was performed in accordance with federal requirements. Effect: Noncompliance occurred as payroll charges allocated to the grants were not reflective of actual activity for which the employees were compensated. Questioned costs: $5,389, the amount overcharged to the program based on budgeted time rather than actual time recorded on employee timesheets. Recommendation: The Department should update its procedures and controls and perform additional training over time and effort reporting to ensure that payroll costs charged to the program are based on actual time and effort and a combination code that is allowable under the program. The Department should not seek federal reimbursement unless it can substantiate that the time and effort was dedicated to the federal program. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the finding.

Reference Number: 2025-017 Prior Year Finding: 2024-013 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor State Agency: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Federal Program: WIOA Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 17.258, 17.259, 17.278 Award Number and Year: 24A55AW000097 (7/1/2024 – 6/30/2027) 23A55AW000048 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026) AA-38535-22-55-A-25 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2025) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Time and Effort Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (a), costs of compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy the specific requirements of this part, 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 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) of this section, Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, when applicable. Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: • Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, • Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity, • Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities, • 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, • Comply with the established accounting policies and practices of the non-Federal entity, • 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. 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 Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (the Department) charged budgeted personnel costs to the program instead of actual costs due to errors coding employee timesheets. Context: Two of sixty timesheets selected for testing charged costs to the program based on budgeted rates instead of actual time worked per employee timesheets. Combination codes are used by employees to allocate and certify hours worked to Federal grants and employees’ supervisors are required to perform a line-item review of hours spent on each grant before approving timesheets. If a timesheet is approved without the use of combination codes, the system defaults to budgeted grant allocations entered into the Labor Cost Management (LCM) module of the Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS). For these two transactions, the employee had a bilingual differential and was missing combination codes. Payment was not based on the employee timesheets of 55% worked on the program but instead was based on a budgeted percentage of time of 100%. The program was therefore overcharged by 45% for the bilingual differential portion of the employee payroll. Cause: The Department’s controls were not operating effectively to ensure that time and effort reporting was performed in accordance with federal requirements. Auditors note that the Department’s corrective action plan from the prior audit had not yet been fully implemented in FY 2025. Effect: Noncompliance occurred as payroll charges allocated to the grants were not reflective of actual activity for which the employees were compensated. Questioned costs: $72, the amount overcharged to the program for the pay period tested for the bilingual differential. Recommendation: We recommend the Department complete implementation of its corrective action plan from the prior year. The Department should update its procedures and controls and perform additional training over time and effort reporting to ensure that payroll costs charged to the program are based on actual time and effort and a combination code that is allowable under the program. The Department should not seek federal reimbursement unless it can substantiate that the time and effort was dedicated to the federal program. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the finding.

Reference Number: 2025-018 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor State Agency: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Federal Program: WIOA Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 17.258, 17.259, 17.278 Award Number and Year: 24A55AW000097 (7/1/2024 – 6/30/2027) 23A55AW000048 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026) AA-38535-22-55-A-25 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2025) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Time and Effort Reporting Earmarking Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (a), costs of compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy the specific requirements of this part, 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 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) of this section, Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, when applicable. Per 2 CFR § 200.430 (i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: • Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, • Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity, • Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities, • 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, • Comply with the established accounting policies and practices of the non-Federal entity, • 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. Earmarking – Statewide Activities: The governor shall reserve not more than 15 percent of each of the amounts allotted to the state Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities for a fiscal year to carry out statewide activities under 29 USC 3164(b) or statewide employment and training activities for adults or dislocated workers under 29 USC 3174(a) (29 USC 3163(a), 128 Stat. 1502). 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 Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (the Department) does not have procedures to ensure it does not exceed the 15% limit for statewide activities. Context: The Department does not have controls in place to track or monitor the Governor's Discretionary Funds (GDF) to ensure expenditures charged against this allotment, whether through direct timesheets or payroll adjustments, do not exceed the required 15% limit across all programs within the WIOA Cluster. Cause: The Department lacks sufficient procedures or controls to ensure that it does not exceed the 15% limit for statewide activities. Effect: Failure to track or monitor the GDF could result in the Department exceeding the 15% limit for statewide activities. Questioned costs: None noted. The Department did not exceed the 15% limit. Recommendation: We recommend the Department develop procedures and controls to ensure expenditures coded to the GDF from timesheets or manual adjustments do not exceed the 15% limit. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the finding.

Finding 2025-001. Federal Agency: US Department of Education State Department/Agency: Kansas Department of Education Federal Program Title: Special Education Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.027 – Special Education – Grants to States (IDEA, Part B) 84.173 – Special Education – Preschool Grants (IDEA Preschool) Award Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 Award Number: Various Compliance Requirement: Documentation of Employee Time and Effort under 2 CFR 200.430(g) Type of Finding: Questioned Costs Criteria or Specific Requirement: Schools are required to record time and effort of employees in accordance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and 2 CFR 200.430(g). Specifically, 2 CFR 200.430(g)(1)(vi) states that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages records must support the distribution of the employee’s salary or wages among specific activities must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These 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 allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. Condition: We noted that seven of the employees tested did not have proper time and effort documentation. Upon further examination, it was determined that the salary and wages for these employees were charged to a federal program when they should not have been. Questioned Costs: The charges for these seven employees include $343,766 for wages and $26,544 for the related payroll taxes for a total of $370,310. Cause: Per discussion with management, there was poor communication between the special education director and the director of business services. Context: We selected a sample of employees in other federal programs with no issues identified. This appears to be an isolated instance for this program and not a systemic problem. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with ESEA and 2 CFR 200.430(g). Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the School District implement procedures to improve communication between the special education director and the director of business services. Furthermore, we recommend that the School District implement procedures that better monitor which employees are being paid out of which fund. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Name: Continuum of Care Assistance Listing Number: 14.267 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: Multiple for FY2024-25 Award Period: July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed (2 CFR 200.430(g)). In addition, under 2 CFR 200.303, the non‑Federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Condition: During our testing, we noted that LAHSA’s internal control designed to ensure payroll transactions were allowable was not consistently implemented. Questioned Costs: None Context: During our testing, it was noted that three out of forty timesheets were not approved prior to commencement of the audit. Cause: Appropriate personnel did not approve timesheets supporting payroll costs charged to the Continuum of Care program in a timely manner. Effect: LAHSA is not in compliance with maintaining an internal control over compliance for payroll costs charged to the Continuum of Care program. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that LAHSA implement procedures to ensure that timesheet approval is documented timely. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Finding 2025-006: Timekeeping and Payroll Allocations (Material Weakness) Federal Agency: National Institute of Health Federal Program: All of Us Research Program Assistance Listing Number: 93.368 Criteria: According to 2 CFR Section 200.430(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; 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 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. viii. Budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards.” Condition: We noted that while the Foundation does keep timesheets, we noted several instances in which the timesheets lacked evidence of supervisory approval. In addition, we noted several instances in which the timesheet was not dated when approved. In addition, we noted several instances in which an employee's timesheet was not available for examination. Cause: The Foundation does not document their review and approval process consistently over timesheets. In addition, the Foundation does not ensure adequate retention of timesheets or ensure that timesheets are properly completed for all employees. Effect or Potential Effect: Without the proper, documented, approval processes in place over timesheets, there exists the potential for allocation errors. Questioned Costs: Undetermined, as the allocations are based on employee timesheets, but it is undeterminable if those timesheets were truly accurate due to the lack of consistent, documented approval over the timesheets by a supervisor. Context: Our audit procedures consisted of testwork performed over a sample of timesheets submitted during the year under audit. We consider our sample to be representative of the population. The issue appears to be systematic in nature. Identification as a Repeat Finding: Not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that the Foundation ensure that all approvals over timesheets are clearly documented and dated.

2 CFR § 400.1 gives regulatory effect to the Department of Agriculture for 2 CFR § 200.430(g)(1)(i) which states, in part, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Grants Manual states, in part, semi-annual certifications are allowed when an employee’s compensation is funded by only one federal grant and works solely on a single cost objective. An employee funded by a federal grant and the general fund would fall under this category. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Grants Management Guidance 2014-002 states, in part, employees who meet [the criteria to use semi-annual certifications] are not required to maintain time and-effort records if their job description clearly shows the employee is assigned 100% to the program or single cost objective. Each employee must certify in writing, at least semi-annually, that he/she worked solely on the program or single cost objective for the period covered by the certification. The certification is signed by the employee or by the supervisor having first-hand knowledge. Charges to the grant must be supported by these semi-annual certifications. The semi-annual certification is executed after the work has been completed, and not before. Due to insufficient controls over records management, the District did not maintain semi-annual certifications, or other time and effort documentation for 20 out of 25 transactions tested (80%). These errors could result in improper spending and federal questioned costs, which could result in a loss of funding. To effectively control the Nutrition Cluster payroll cycle and to maintain accountability over program expenditures, the District should review its policy and ensure employees complete the necessary time and effort documentation, such as semi-annual certifications, for employees who work solely on a single federal award or cost objective.

Finding #2025-003 Type: Significant deficiency Assisting Listing Number: 14.267 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Name of Federal Program: Continuum of Care Requirement: Uniform Guidance (2 CFR §200.430) requires that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages be supported by records that accurately reflect the work performed and be supported by an internal control system which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition: The Agency supported payroll allocations to federal programs using detailed Google Calendar records, discussions of employee responsibilities, and supervisory review. While this documentation provided insight into employee activities, it was not maintained in a standardized or streamlined format that readily supported audit procedures or served as contemporaneous payroll documentation for compliance purposes. Context: Personnel costs were allocated based on employees’ expected duties as discussed during the budgeting process. Program directors reviewed employee activities using Google Calendar and supervisory knowledge, and the finance team reviewed the resulting allocations for overall reasonableness, including verifying that amounts charged did not exceed gross payroll. The Agency operates with limited administrative resources and relies on existing tools to support program operations. Cause: Due to resource and funding constraints, the Agency has not implemented a more sophisticated time tracking system. Management instead relied on existing scheduling tools and supervisory review as a practical and cost effective means of supporting payroll allocations; however, these tools were not designed to produce compliance ready documentation in a consolidated or audit efficient format. Effect: Although supporting documentation existed and payroll allocations appeared reasonable, the lack of streamlined and standardized documentation limited the ability to readily demonstrate compliance with Uniform Guidance requirements. This represents a deficiency in internal control over compliance related to personnel costs charged to federal awards. Questioned Costs: None. Based on audit procedures performed, the allocations appeared reasonable; however, required supporting documentation was not maintained. Recommendation: We recommend that management evaluate cost effective options to enhance documentation of personnel cost allocations to federal programs. Such options may include simplified time and effort tracking or standardized summary documentation that can be implemented within existing resource constraints while improving support for compliance with Uniform Guidance requirements. Management’s Response: Management agrees with the finding. The Agency’s current approach was designed to balance compliance needs with limited resources. Management will assess feasible improvements to its documentation practices to enhance support for payroll allocations to federal awards while remaining mindful of funding and staffing constraints.

Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Evidence of Services Provided by Part-Time and Extension Credit Lecturers Program Name: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (Assistance Listing 21.027) Federal Award Agency: Department of the Treasury Award Year: Federal Fiscal Year 2025 Federal Award Number: N/A Background The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) was designated as the primary state agency responsible for overseeing the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and reporting to the federal government. OPM allocated funds to the CT State Community College and other state agencies to assist with carrying out the program’s objectives. CT State Community College contracts with part-time and extension credit lecturers who teach a term or class at a flat rate. The college pays them in equal installments based on the terms of individual contracts. Criteria Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200.303 requires the non-federal entity to establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that it is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Title 2 CFR Part 200.430(g) provides that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Such records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, and comply with the established accounting policies and procedures of the recipient. Sections 3-117(b) and 3-119(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes require state entities to certify services are received and documented before paying contractors and state employees. Condition CT State Community College made $70,175,519 in salary and fringe benefit payments for 2,796 part-time and extension credit lecturers without verifying the lecturers provided the contractual services or documenting supervisory approval. Context During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, CT State Community College charged $70,624,749 in payroll and fringe benefit costs to Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, of which $70,175,519 was attributed to contracted faculty members. Questioned Costs $0 Effect CT State Community College could pay part-time and extension lecturers for services they did not provide. Cause CT State Community College lacks policies and procedures to ensure compensation for part-time and extension credit lecturers is contingent on fulfillment of contractual obligations. Prior Audit Finding We previously reported this as finding 2024-400. Recommendation CT State Community College should strengthen internal controls to ensure that part-time and extension credit lecturer payroll and fringe benefits costs are based on actual time worked and are properly approved. Views of Responsible Officials Response provided by CT State Community College: “Management agrees with this finding and work towards a viable long-term solution for workload review at the campus level is underway. As noted in previous audits, controls were implemented in Banner as part of the Payroll Exception review process that was initiated by the Audit Advisory Committee. These reports are currently unavailable due to limitations that will be resolved soon. Once resolved, the reports will be shared with the appropriate academic reviewer for confirmation of services received.” Views of Responsible Officials Response provided by the Office of Policy and Management: “The Office of Policy and Management has no additional response beyond that offered by the CT State Community College.”

Federal Agency: United States Department of Health and Human Services Federal Programs: Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion Grants Federal Assistance Listing Number: 93.696 Federal Award Year: 2024-2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement – Level of effort (2 CFR § 200.430) includes requirements for (a) a specified level of service to be provided from period to period, (b) a specified level of expenditures from non-federal or federal sources for specified activities to be maintained from period to period, and (c) federal funds to supplement and not supplant non-federal funding of services. Condition – The Corporation failed to meet the 80% level of effort requirements as stipulated in the grant agreements. Cause – The Corporation lacked adequate controls and procedures to support personnel costs charged to the grant, including maintaining time studies or equivalent documentation to substantiate the level of effort, as required by Uniform Guidance (2 CFR § 200.430). Effect or Potential Effect – Failure to allocate payroll costs for employees with required level of- effort commitments may result in noncompliance with grant requirements. Questioned Costs – None Context – We selected a sample of one individual out of a population of five individuals for testing. For the individual selected, the Corporation was unable to provide evidence the specified level of service to be provided was met. As a result, level of effort activities were not completed in accordance with federal regulations nor was supporting documentation retained to demonstrate compliance. The sampling methodology used is not, and is not intended to be, statistically valid. Identification as a Repeat Finding – No Recommendation – The Corporation should establish and maintain internal controls over compliance with level of effort requirements, including documenting employee time through timesheets that accurately allocate time charged to the grant in accordance with applicable grant requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions – Management concurs with the finding. Arisa’s time-keeping application is designed to meet FLSA recordkeeping requirements. This system does not contain a solution to subdivide hours worked by project in a manner that would satisfy level of effort reporting. Arisa will require employees in positions that are partially or fully funded through a federal contract containing level of effort requirements to complete and submit a separate paper timesheet documenting time worked on the federal contract. In addition, subcontractors will be required to include a certification on their invoices that applicable level of effort requirements were met.

Program Titles: Reentry Employment Opportunities; Social Services Block Grant Assistance Listing Numbers: 17.270 and 93.667 Funding Agency’s: U.S. Department of Labor; Illinois Department of Human Services; City of Chicago Department of Family & Support Services Award Year: Reentry Employment Opportunities : 7/01/2023 – 12/31/2026 Social Services Block Grant: 7/1/2024 – 06/30/2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement – The Foundation is required to follow Uniform Guidance, which requires non federal entities to maintain effective internal controls and financial management systems to ensure compliance with cost principles (2 CFR §200.302(b)). Payroll and other expense costs allocated across multiple programs using employee time as the basis for allocation must be supported by documentation to substantiate the allocation (2 CFR §200.430). Condition – During testing of allowable costs, we identified shared payroll and other costs charged to federal programs for which adequate support for the cost allocation methodology was not maintained. Specifically, allocation schedules and underlying documentation supporting how payroll allocation percentages were determined were incomplete or unavailable. As a result, we were unable to conclude that all sampled costs were allocated to the federal programs in proportion to the relative benefit received. Cause – The Foundation transitioned to a new payroll system and did not retain allocation schedules before losing access to the prior system. Effect or potential effect – Inadequate documentation supporting cost allocations increases the risk that costs charged to federal programs may not be allocable in accordance with Uniform Guidance, potentially resulting in questioned costs or required repayment. Questioned Costs – Unknown. Context – Of the transactions tested, 20 out of 25 payroll and 18 of 25 non-payroll expense transactions for the Reentry Employment Opportunities program, and 16 out of 25 payroll transactions for the Social Services Block Grant program, lacked sufficient documentation supporting the allocation percentages applied. The sampling was not a statistically valid sample. Identification as a repeat finding – Not a repeat finding. Recommendation – We recommend that management maintain appropriate documentation to support cost allocations when using employee time as the basis for allocation. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions – Management agrees with the finding. The issue resulted from a system conversion and transition between payroll providers. Moving forward, management will ensure that appropriate documentation is consistently maintained and retained to support all payroll-related transactions.

2025-004: Federal Awards – Allowable Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation CFDA No.: 20.509 Federal Program: Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program Control Category: Allowable Costs Questioned Costs: Does not exceed threshold for reporting Condition During our testing of payroll expenditures, we noted that administrative and maintenance employee salaries and wages were charged to the federal program using predetermined allocation percentages rather than actual time recorded on employee timesheets or activity reports. Employees working on multiple programs did not maintain documentation identifying the actual hours worked on each program during the pay period. Instead, payroll costs were distributed across funding sources using fixed percentages established by management. Criteria 2 CFR 200.430(i), Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, states, in part: “Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed…” Charges must “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;…” And “budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards.” Cause The Authority's payroll system charges time for employees each pay period based on an allocation rather than actual hours documented on the employee’s timesheet. Effect Because payroll costs were not supported by records reflecting the actual work performed, the Authority cannot demonstrate that salary and wage costs charged to the federal program were accurate and properly allocable. As a result, payroll expenditures charged to the program may be unallowable under federal cost principles, and there is an increased risk that federal funds could be misallocated among programs. Recommendation We recommend that the Authority charge time to the program based on actual hours worked per the employees’ timesheets. Management’s Response Regarding Corrective Action Taken or Planned These rules apply to costs charged directly to federal programs, such as the 5311 grants that require a 44.67% match when used for operating expenses. All maintenance and administrative staff time is eligible as direct costs for these grants as their time is only spent on transit activities and not administrating non-transit programs. Staff apply payroll costs and on either actual vehicle miles or hours based their type of work, as recommended by the National Rural Transit Assistance Program, for time by staff that cannot be directly tied to a specific grant source.

Federal agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal program title: Special Education Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Identification Number: H027A230076, H027A230076, H173A230039, H173A230039, FH027A230076, H027A230076 Pass-Through Agency: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care Pass-Through Number(s): Various (see schedule of expenditures of federal awards) Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance • Material Noncompliance (Modified Opinion) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 2 Part 200.430 indicates charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Such records must also reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the nonfederal entity. Condition and Context: For forty of forty payroll transactions tested, the School Department did not complete time and effort certifications. Questioned Costs: None Cause: Procedures were not in place to ensure that time and effort certifications were completed. Effect: Noncompliance with federal requirements occurred. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend procedures be implemented to ensure that time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.

2025-001 U.S. Department of Education Passed-through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies – ALN 84.010 Compliance Finding and Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.430(i) of the Uniform Guidance, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Semi-annual or monthly time and effort certifications are to be utilized if the non-federal entity’s records do not meet the related standards described in the Uniform Guidance. Condition: Time and effort certifications were not maintained for grant employees. Cause: The School was not aware of the applicable time and effort requirements. Effect: The School is not in compliance with applicable cost principles related to salaries and wages. Questioned Costs: $966,130, which represents total payroll costs charged to the grant Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No. Recommendation: The School should implement procedures to maintain time and effort certifications for all grant employees. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding.

2025-004 Maintain Approved Rate Support for Employee Pay Rates and Time and Effort Support Federal Program(s) Information Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Award Name: Child Nutrition Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 10.553/10.555/10.559 Award Year: 2025 Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Type of Finding Compliance Internal Control over Compliance – Significant Deficiency Criteria or Specific Requirement Grantees must provide reasonable assurance that federal awards are expended only for allowable activities and that the costs of goods and services charged to federal awards are allowable and in accordance with the applicable cost principles. Per 2 CFR 200.430, compensation for personal services must be supported by records that accurately reflect the work performed and be based on approved pay rates consistent with established payroll and personnel policies. Documentation supporting payroll costs charged to Federal awards must be properly authorized and maintained. Condition and Context As part of the testing of twenty-five employees charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster, adequate time and effort documentation supporting the allocation of payroll costs charged to the program for four employees was not provided. Cause Weakness in the design and implementation of internal controls in that payroll costs lacked sufficient supporting documentation to demonstrate costs charged to the program were based on actual work performed. Effect or Potential Effect Due to the weakness in internal controls noted above, there is a risk that amounts charged to federal awards may not be allowable or in accordance with applicable cost principles. Questioned Costs - Not determinable. Identification as a Repeat Finding - This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation The City should implement formal procedures to ensure all employee pay rates are supported by approved and retained documentation and implement controls to ensure time and effort reporting is prepared, reviewed, and maintained. View of Responsible Officials Management’s corrective action plan is included at the end of this report after the Summary Schedule of Prior Year Findings.

Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Name: HOME Investment Partnership Program Assistance Listing Number: 14.239 Award Period: July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirement: 2 CFR 200.430(g), Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses, states: (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (vi) 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. Condition: The City’s payroll system allocated vacation hours across various programs and needed further reconciliation to identify eligible costs per employee timesheets. Questioned Costs: None. Context: All vacation hours not directly identified in the employees timesheet are charged based on payroll systems preset allocations. Cause: When the employees are on vacation and time is not directly identified in the employees timesheet, the payroll system defaults to a preset allocation. Effect: Payroll costs charged to the program were greater than amounts supported by the documentation.

Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 21.027 - U.S. Department of the Treasury - COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 93.959 - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse Federal Award Identification Number and Year - 21.027 - All programs reported 93.959 - Grant numbers 43CDZ03232, 43CDC03016, 43CDC03736, 43CDZ03787, and 43CDC03731 Pass through Entity - 21.027 - Cook County Health and Kane County, Illinois 93.959 - Direct Awards Finding Type - Significant deficiency Repeat Finding - No Criteria - Under 2 CFR 200.430(i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: • Be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated • Be supported by documentation that reflects the total activity for which the employee is compensated Condition - The Organization allocates personnel costs to federal programs based on wage forms that reflect estimated time expected to be worked across programs. Supervisors perform biweekly reviews of employee time charged within the Paylocity system and compare allocations to supporting information, such as program schedules and caseloads. However, we noted that: • There is no formal documentation retained evidencing the supervisor’s review of supporting records (e.g., caseloads and schedules) to substantiate that recorded time aligns with actual work performed. • The only evidence of review is system approval within Paylocity, which indicates the timecard was approved but does not demonstrate the nature, extent, or basis of the review performed. Questioned Costs - N/A If Questioned Costs are Not Determinable, Description of Why Known Questioned Costs Were Undetermined or Otherwise Could Not be Reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - The Organization allocates payroll costs to federal awards based on wage forms reflecting how employees are expected to work across programs. Supervisors review employee time biweekly and consider information, such as caseloads, counselor/doctor notes, and other operational records, to assess whether recorded allocations remain reasonable. If an employee’s actual time differs from the allocation reflected in Paylocity, the allocation is expected to be reviewed and corrected within the payroll system via an updated wage form. Cause and Effect - The Organization relies on system approval within Paylocity and informal supervisory processes rather than a formal, documented review process to support payroll allocations charged to federal awards. Without documented evidence of supervisory review, the Organization cannot clearly demonstrate that payroll costs charged to federal awards are supported and accurately reflect actual work performed. Due to the lack of formal documentation to demonstrate that payroll allocations charged to the grant were reasonable, additional audit procedures were necessary. Recommendation - We recommend the Organization strengthen its internal controls over personnel cost allocations by implementing a more formal and well documented review process. At a minimum, supervisors should document their review of payroll allocations, including the supporting information considered (e.g., caseloads and counselor/doctor notes) and the basis for concluding that recorded time reasonably reflects work performed. To further enhance compliance and documentation, the Organization may consider the following approaches: • Track time by grant at the employee level: Require employees to record actual time worked by funding source (e.g., by grant or cost objective) within the payroll system, reducing reliance on estimated allocations. • Implement personnel activity reports (PARs): Utilize periodic certifications (e.g., each pay period) in which employees attest that recorded time reflects actual work performed across funding sources, with supervisory review and approval documented. • Enhance existing processes: If continuing to use estimated allocations, require consistent documentation of supervisory review, including evidence of comparison to supporting records and evaluation of any variances. Documenting and retaining evidence of these reviews will strengthen the Organization’s ability to demonstrate that personnel costs are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated in accordance with the Uniform Guidance and will reduce audit burden in future periods. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - Management agrees and will implement a control that requires direct supervisors to document their reviews of supporting records (e.g., caseloads and schedules) of direct reports to substantiate that recorded time aligns with actual work performed as a part of the supervisors' biweekly timesheet reviews. Family Guidance Centers, Inc. will retain this documentation in accordance with its document retention policy.

Finding 2025-003 Assistance Listing Number(s): 93.558 Name of Federal Program or Cluster: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services Name of Pass-through Entity: Virginia Department of Social Services Pass-through Entity Identifying Number: BEN-21-029 Award Period: July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement: Per 2 CFR 200.430, charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and must be supported by a system of internal controls.Fringe benefits must be based on actual costs incurred and be allocable to the federal award. Per 2 CFR 200.403, costs must be allowable, reasonable, and properly supported. Condition and Context: UCM did not maintain effective internal controls over payroll and employee benefit costs charged to the federal award. Testing of all 14 employees charged to the program identified the following: Payroll costs – time and effort reporting • No internal controls existed over time and effort reporting for 2 out of 14 employees charged to the federal award. • Required after-the-fact documentation of actual time worked was not maintained. Retroactive time and effort certifications were received during audit for 10 out of 14 employees who worked within the program. • 5 of 14 employees were charged to the federal award at amounts exceeding the time reflected on time certifications, indicating payroll charges were not based on actual effort. Employee Benefits – lack of controls and overcharging • There were no internal controls to ensure that employee benefits charged to the award reflected actual costs incurred. • 13 of 14 employees had employee benefit costs charged to the federal award that exceeded actual benefits incurred, indicating the use of budgeted or estimated amounts rather than actual costs. Cause: UCM lacked formal written policies and procedures governing time and effort reporting, employee benefit allocations, and documentation standards. Significant management personnel turnover resulted in inadequate federal grant knowledge and inconsistent application of Uniform Guidance requirements. Effect or Potential Effect: Unallowable, unsupported, or inaccurately allocated costs were charged to the federal award. UCM may be required to repay federal funds and implement corrective actions. Repeat Finding: This finding is a repeat of 2024-001. Questioned Costs: Questioned costs include the 2 out of 14 unsupported time and effort costs, excess salaries and employee benefits than actual allocable to the employees within the program, and 10% de minimis charged on the questioned costs. Payroll: $55,523 Employee benefits: 99,980 Indirect overcharge on above questioned costs: 15,550 Total known questioned costs: $171,053 Recommendation: UCM should develop and implement comprehensive written policies and proceduresaddressing time and effort, employee benefits, payroll allocations, and documentation standards. Staff responsible for grant accounting should receive Uniform Guidance training. Views of Responsible Officials: Management acknowledges the finding and will work to implement appropriate corrective actions to address the deficiency and improve compliance going forward.

2025-003 Internal Control over Payroll – (Significant Deficiency) - Repeated and Modified (Prior Year Finding 2024-003) Federal Program Information: Funding Agency Title Federal Assistance Listing Number(s) Award Year and Number U.S. Department of Interior Indian School Equalization Program 15.042 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Interior Indian Schools Student Transportation 15.044 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Interior Administrative Cost Grants for Indian Schools 15.046 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Interior Indian Education Facilities, Operations, and Maintenance 15.047 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Education Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies 84.010 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Education Special Education Grants to States 84.027 2024; A24AV00744 U.S. Department of Education Education Stabilization Fund 84.425 2024; A24AV00744 Criteria or Specific Requirements: In accordance with 2 CFR § 200.302(b)(3) and § 200.430(i), recipients of federal funds must maintain documentation that supports the allowability and allocability of compensation costs. Personnel expenses must be supported by records that accurately reflect the work performed, and documentation must be maintained for each employee, including executed contracts, offer letters, pay rate approvals, timesheets, and separation documentation. Adequate support is necessary to demonstrate that federal funds were used in compliance with award conditions. Condition: During our review of internal controls over payroll processing, we selected 194 payroll transactions across seven major programs for testing. Exceptions were identified in 7 transactions. The School did not fully comply with its own adopted policies or applicable federal regulations concerning payroll documentation and processing. Cause: The deficiencies appear to be due to a lack of consistent personnel file maintenance and insufficient internal controls over payroll documentation, record retention, and post-hiring compliance reviews. Effect: The lack of complete personnel documentation increases the risk of charging unallowable or unsupported costs to federal awards. It also affects the ability to verify employee eligibility, compensation accuracy, and the proper use of federal funds, potentially resulting in questioned costs and potential repayment obligations to granting agencies. Auditor's Recommendation: We recommend that the School implement enhanced internal controls and standardized procedures to ensure complete and accurate personnel records are maintained. This should include routine documentation checks to ensure that all required items, such as offer letters, contracts, paystubs, pay rate verifications, timesheets, and termination letters, are present and properly filed. Management should also provide training to relevant staff on federal compliance requirements related to payroll and personnel documentation.

Allowable Costs and Activities Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Program Title: Health Center Program Cluster Assistance Listing Numbers: 93.224 and 93.527 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: H80CS00109-24; H80CS00109-25 Award Period: May 1, 2024 – April 30, 2025; May 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026 Criteria or specific requirement: Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities; and 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 (2 CFR 200.430(i)(1)). Condition: Payroll costs were allocated to grants in a manner inconsistent with the time and effort documentation provided. Questioned costs: none Context: One (1) of forty (40) allowable cost transactions selected for testing was related to payroll costs which were allocated to the grant in a manner inconsistent with the time and effort documentation provided. Amount allocated used a percentage less than the corresponding percentage on the time and effort documentation provided. Cause: Unknown Effect: Grants may be allocated costs in a manner which is inconsistent with the actual level of effort associated with the underlying employee. Repeat Finding: Yes, prior year finding 2024-003. Recommendation: Management should reinforce the requirement to retain time and effort documentation for all employees that are allocated to multiple grants and implement a review process whereby the allocation percentages used are compared to the employee attestations provided. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with this finding.

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND LABORATORY CAPACITY FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES (ELC) – 93.323 Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Federal Award Fiscal Years: 2019 to 2027 Federal Award Number: NU50CK000519 Administered by: Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) IMMUNIZATION COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS – 93.268 Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Federal Award Fiscal Years: 2019 to 2025 Federal Award Number: NH23IP922618 Administered by: Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND – 66.468 Federal Awarding Agency: Environmental Protection Agency Federal Award Fiscal Years: 2022-2030 Federal Award Numbers: 99126120, 99126122, 99126E22, 99126S22, 99126L22, 99126123, 99126E23, 99126S23, 99126121and 99126L23 Pass-through Entity: Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (RIIB) Administered by: Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles TIME AND EFFORT REPORTING RIDOH controls over time and effort reporting are lacking to ensure accurate allocations and reimbursements from federal programs. Background: RIDOH has built and implemented a complex time-reporting system using internal worksheets for employees to allocate time spent on various activities during the pay periods. Reconciliations of the hours worked versus the hours charged to the State’s payroll and accounting systems are performed quarterly. Recorded amounts are adjusted quarterly (using quarterly variance reports prepared using a spreadsheet application) accordingly to ensure charges to the federal programs are consistent with actual time worked on the various programs. Criteria: 45 CFR §75.430(i)(1) and 2 CFR §200.430(g)(1) require that “Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed.” Condition: Our testing of personnel costs and payroll allocation controls identified a variety of documentation discrepancies and control deficiencies for the ELC, Immunization, and DWSRF programs. As part of our testing, we determined a complete population of RIDOH personnel by payroll period that we reconciled to the State accounting system to validate the completeness of payroll costs charged directly to the programs. For each program tested, we randomly selected 40 distinct RIDOH employee time reporting periods (2-week periods with weekly timesheets) to test the accuracy and completeness of time and effort reporting. For each employee selected, we verified that the time reported for the period selected agreed to RIDOH’s internal worksheets that supported the personnel cost allocation adjustments made by RIDOH. Once the employee time was verified, we determined if the adjustment required for that employee to adjust the respective allocation of personnel costs to the program agreed to the adjustments posted to the State accounting system. These procedures noted the following: • Our procedures commonly noted discrepancies between required adjustments per the quarterly variance report and the actual adjustments posted in the accounting system. We noted exceptions in 39 of the 120 adjustments (33%) selected for testing, which were provided to RIDOH to research and make any necessary corrections. The actual amount of personnel expenditures incorrectly allocated to federal programs remained undetermined as RIDOH efforts to review the adjustments and reported discrepancies remained incomplete. • To evaluate the significance of potential personnel misstatements by program, we conducted analytical procedures of personnel expenditures charged in fiscal 2024 where audit work performed found that personnel expenditures charged to the program were supported by RIDOH. Our analytical procedures found that personnel expenditures charged to the ELC, Immunization, and DWSRF programs in fiscal 2025 were reasonably consistent as a percentage of total program expenditures with fiscal 2024. We relied on this analysis, and other considerations, to conclude that while RIDOH made clerical errors when adjusting payroll allocations amongst federal grants, the amount of likely personnel expenditures improperly allocated to these programs in fiscal 2025 was not deemed to be material to the programs as a whole. • Our review of sampled timesheets (240 weekly timesheets) in conjunction with time and effort reporting noted isolated instances where timesheet documentation and/or supervisory review and approval were deficient. Cause: Current policies and procedures were ineffective to ensure amounts claimed and reimbursed by Federal programs for personnel costs were reflective of the actual work performed on the various programs/projects listed. Personnel changes, in conjunction with a lack of documented policies and procedures, during fiscal 2025 contributed to the difficulties in adjusting personnel cost allocations cited above. Effect: Personnel costs reimbursed from Federal awards could be unallowable due to insufficient support and/or improper allocation. Questioned Costs: Undetermined Valid Statistical Sample: Yes RECOMMENDATIONS 2025-043a Enhance reporting of time and effort for general timesheet category activities to improve documentation and support for personnel costs charged to Federal programs. RIDOH should explore capabilities in the State’s new ERP system to allow for direct charging of personnel costs through time and effort reporting directly in the ERP. 2025-043b Ensure all payroll allocation adjustments are supported by complete, accurate, and independently verifiable documentation. 2025-043c Review all payroll allocation entries that were not supported by RIDOH’s internal worksheets and determine if additional adjustment of personnel costs to federal programs is required.

2 CFR 200.430(a) states that compensation for personal services includes all remuneration, paid currently or accrued, for services of employees rendered during the period of performance under the Federal award, including but not necessarily limited to wages and salaries. Compensation for personal services may also include fringe benefits addressed in § 200.431. Costs of compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy the specific requirements of this part and that the total compensation for individual employees: (1) Is reasonable for the services rendered and conforms to the established written policy of the recipient or subrecipient consistently applied to both Federal and non-Federal activities; (2) Follows an appointment made in accordance with the recipient's or subrecipient's laws, rules, or written policies and meets the requirements of Federal statute, where applicable; and (3) Is determined and supported as provided in paragraph (g) of this section, when applicable. In addition, District Policy #6116 - Time and Effort Reporting states, in part, that Section 200.430 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires certification of effort to document salary expenses charged directly or indirectly against Federally-sponsored projects. This process is intended to verify that compensation for employment services, including salaries and wages, is allocable and properly expended, and that any variances from the budget are reconciled. Compensation for employment services includes all remuneration, paid currently or accrued, for services of employees rendered during the period of performance under the Federal award, including but not necessarily limited to wages and salaries. Compensation for personal services may also include fringe benefits, which are addressed in 2 C.F.R. 200.431 Compensation-fringe benefits. Costs of compensation are allowable to the extent that they satisfy the specific requirements of these regulations, and that the total compensation for individual employees: A. is reasonable for the services rendered, conforms to the District’s established written policy, and is consistently applied to both Federal and non-Federal activities; and B. follows an appointment made in accordance with the District’s written policies and meets the requirements of Federal statute, where applicable. Semi-annual certifications and time-and-effort documentation are used to support salary amounts charged to a federal program. Semi-annual certifications are allowed when an employee’s compensation is funded by only one federal grant. The School District did not complete semi-annual certifications or time-and-effort documentation for 3 employees tested that were charged to the Special Education Cluster AL #84.027/84.173 federal program for the period of July 2024 through June 2025. Failure to complete time and effort certifications after the time worked could lead to questioned costs being issued in future audits as well as possible reductions in future federal funding. The School District should establish and implement procedures to verify that all employees charging salaries and benefits to federal grants and completing semi-annual certifications, sign/certify the time spent on the grant subsequent to the time period worked.

Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Special Education Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: H027A230076 (9/8/2023 – 9/30/2025), H027A240076 (9/10/2024 – 9/30/2026), FH027A230076 (11/3/2023 – 9/30/2024) Pass-Through Agency: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Pass-Through Number(s): 240-000558-2024-0700, 240-000558-2025-0700, 274-000662-2025-0700 Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance • Material Noncompliance (Qualified Opinion) Criteria or specific requirement: Under the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200), specifically 2 CFR §200.430(i), charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal controls which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Additionally, the non-Federal entity is required to have written procedures and a system of internal controls to ensure that charges for compensation are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated to each applicable cost objective. Condition: For the year ended June 30, 2025, The District did not maintain adequate time and effort documentation to support payroll costs charged to the Special Education (SPED) program. Specifically, for a sample of employees whose compensation was partially or fully charged to SPED, required time and effort certifications were either missing, incomplete, or did not clearly support the allocation of time between SPED and non‑SPED activities. Questioned costs: $88,558 Context: During testing of payroll expenditures it was identified that the District was not able to provide the time and effort documentation required for SPED payroll expenditures. Cause: District procedures for monitoring and retaining time and effort documentation were not consistently implemented. In addition, management oversight procedures did not ensure that required certifications were completed timely, reviewed for accuracy, and retained in accordance with federal requirements. Effect: Without adequate time and effort documentation, the District is unable to demonstrate that payroll expenditures charged to the SPED program were allowable and allocable. This condition increases the risk that federal funds may have been charged for costs not properly supported or not benefiting the SPED program, resulting in noncompliance with federal grant requirements. Repeat Finding: No. Recommendation: Establish and formally document procedures to ensure time and effort documentation is completed in accordance with federal requirements. Require periodic review of procedures by management to verify accuracy and completeness. Ensure all time and effort documentation is properly retained and readily available for audit purposes. Provide training to applicable staff on federal time and effort documentation requirements for SPED programs. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

2025-003 Internal Control Over Payroll Charged to Federal Awards Program Information Federal Agency U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistance Listing Numbers 93.224 Health Centers Program Cluster Award Numbers H80CS00055, H8GCS48089 Criteria Under 2 CFR 200.303, the auditee is required to establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over federal awards, and under 2 CFR 200.430, compensation charged to federal awards must be supported by records that accurately reflect work performed and provide reasonable assurance that charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. [ ] Compliance Finding [X] Significant Deficiency [ ] Material Weakness Condition During fiscal year 2025, we noted that payroll rates used to charge employees’ compensation to the federal award were not reviewed and approved in accordance with the auditee’s established payroll control process. A sample size of 25 employees included 5 employees for which there was no evidence the rate of pay used was approved by the appropriate level per Clinic policy. Cause The auditee did not consistently perform or retain evidence of the payroll-rate approval for employees whose wages were charged to federal awards due to turnover in payroll personnel and insufficient monitoring. Effect Without evidence that payroll rates were reviewed and approved, there is a reasonable possibility that unallowable, inaccurate, or improperly allocated payroll costs could be charged to the federal award and not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. Questioned Costs No questioned costs were identified as a result of this finding. All wages paid were considered reasonable based on the work performed. Recommendation We recommend the Clinic implement a documented payroll-rate approval process, require evidence of approval before payroll costs are charged to federal awards, periodically review payroll-rate changes, and retain approval documentation as part of the official payroll records. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective action White Bird Clinic agrees with this finding. With the onboarding of a new Director of Human Resources, best practices around payroll documentation have been implemented. This includes individual forms for all wage changes per employee. Approval is documented with Supervisors’ signatures on these forms. The wage form is used to update the payroll system and a final accuracy review is performed by the HR Director to verify the updated rate matches the approved change form. The approved wage forms are securely stored in the Human Resources files.

Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Assistance Listing Number: 93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance, 93.958 Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services, 93.959 Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse. Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR §200.430(i) of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), compensation for personal services charged to federal awards must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. When budget estimates are used for interim accounting purposes, they must: produce reasonable approximations of the activity actually performed, be reconciled to actual effort on a regular basis, and be adjusted in a timely manner to reflect significant changes in work activity. Documentation may include timesheets, effort certifications, payroll distribution reports, and other personnel activity records, and must be reviewed and approved by authorized personnel. Condition and Context: The Organization did not maintain documentation evidencing a hindsight review of employee working hours to verify alignment between actual hours worked and budgeted hours. This oversight was noted in instances where payroll costs for individual employees were allocated across multiple federal programs. While a time and effort certification was lacking for the items included in our sample, there was evidence of work performed on the grants and the amounts allocated aligned closely to the budget. Questioned Costs: We were unable to quantify an amount of questioned costs. While a time and effort certification was lacking for the items included in our sample, there was evidence of work performed on the grants and the amounts allocated aligned closely to the budget. Therefore, we were unable to quantify the amount of questioned costs. Cause: The Organization has not established or enforced formal policies and procedures requiring the documentation of time and effort for employees. Effect: The lack of documentation of hindsight review increases the risk of inaccurate payroll cost allocations and potential noncompliance with federal grant requirements. Recommendation: The Organization should update its policies and procedures to require and document a formal hindsight review of employee working hours. This review should verify that actual hours worked align with budgeted hours, particularly in cases where payroll costs are allocated across multiple federal programs. The updated procedures should include clear guidelines for conducting and retaining evidence of such reviews to support accurate cost allocations and ensure compliance with federal grant requirements.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PASSED THROUGH ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION COVID-19 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND - AL NUMBERS 84.425D AND 84.425U PASS-THROUGH NUMBER 5440 AUDIT PERIOD - YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025 2025-005. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Criteria or specific requirement: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 2 CFR 200.430(g)(1) requires that salaries and wages charged to federal awards must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Condition: Time distribution certifications that support salaries and wages charged to the Education Stabilization Fund were not maintained. A similar finding was noted in the prior year. Cause: Procedures are in place for personnel to review the accuracy of the time distribution certifications. However, these procedures were not followed in the current year. Effect or potential effect: Without proper documentation, it cannot be verified that salaries and wages charged to program were based on actual time spent on allowable program-related activities. Questioned costs: $19,396. Context: A sample of 4 employees from a population of 31 employees. Our sample was not a statistically valid sample. Identification as a repeat finding: Yes Recommendation: The Charter School should follow procedures established to ensure charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Views of responsible officials: The School has now made personnel and policy changes, and established procedures regarding time certifications that provide assurance that charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated.

Finding 2025-011 – Child Nutrition Cluster – Inadequate Payroll Support and Documentation Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program: Child Nutrition Cluster Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria Pursuant to 2 CFR §200.430, compensation for personal services charged to Federal awards must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and must be supported by a system of internal controls that provides reasonable assurance that charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Additionally, 2 CFR §200.302 requires non-Federal entities to establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the entity is managing Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should include procedures to ensure payroll costs charged to Federal awards are supported by approved timesheets, approved compensation rates, supervisory review, and adequate documentation retention practices. Condition During testing of payroll expenditures charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster, UHY identified instances where required payroll documentation was not available for review. Specifically, management was unable to provide approved timesheets for certain employees selected for testing and was unable to provide approved compensation documentation for other employees. In addition, UHY identified payroll instances where the approved hourly rate did not agree to the effective hourly rate calculated from payroll records, and management was unable to provide supporting documentation explaining the differences. Context The Child Nutrition Cluster reported approximately $788,550 in Federal expenditures during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. UHY tested payroll expenditures charged to the program as part of its procedures over Activities Allowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles. The exceptions identified were not isolated to a single payroll transaction and included multiple instances of missing support and unsupported payroll rate variances. Because required documentation was not maintained or available for review, UHY was unable to verify that all payroll costs tested were properly supported, approved, and allowable under the Child Nutrition Cluster. Cause Management did not maintain complete payroll documentation and did not have procedures in place to ensure approved timesheets, compensation authorizations, and payroll calculations were consistently retained and available for review. Existing review procedures were not sufficient to ensure that payroll charges to the Child Nutrition Cluster were adequately documented and supported in accordance with Federal requirements. Effect Because supporting documentation was not available, UHY was unable to verify that certain payroll costs charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster were properly supported, approved, and allowable. The lack of documentation increases the risk that payroll expenditures may be misstated, unauthorized, inaccurately calculated, or charged to Federal programs inappropriately. Furthermore, the inability to produce required payroll documentation impairs management's ability to demonstrate compliance with Uniform Guidance requirements and constitutes a material weakness in internal control over compliance because there is a reasonable possibility that material noncompliance could occur and not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable No. Questioned Costs None identified. UHY was unable to determine questioned costs for all items selected for testing because supporting documentation was not available. Recommendation Management should strengthen controls over payroll documentation and record retention to ensure that approved timesheets, compensation authorizations, and payroll support are maintained and readily available for audit and review. Management should also implement procedures requiring supervisory review of payroll calculations and verification that payroll charges agree to approved compensation rates prior to processing and charging costs to Federal awards. Documentation supporting payroll charges should be retained in accordance with established record retention policies and Uniform Guidance requirements. Responsible Official Superintendent of Schools and Finance Director Views of Responsible Official The County concurs with the recommendation. The personnel action process as described in Section II of this document was implemented to correct this finding for the proper pay rates. Internal controls should be enhanced to ensure that all payroll charges are supported by approved timesheets prior to processing. School Management should review procedures to be implemented to verify payroll calculations and compensation rates, and documentation retention practices will be strengthened to ensure all required support is maintained and readily available for audit purposes.

Criteria: Under 2 CFR 200.430(i), charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: -Be supported by a system of internal controls; -Be incorporated into the official records of the non‑Federal entity; -Reasonably reflect total activity for which the employee is compensated; -Support distribution among specific activities or cost objectives. Commonly accepted forms of support include Personal Activity Reports (PARs), timesheets, or an equivalent system documenting actual time worked. Condition: During our testing of payroll charges for employees whose salaries were allocated to the programs, we noted that the entity improperly allocated funds for an employee based on time for a different employee based on the documentation provided supporting the distribution of time to the federal program. Context: Documentation was not properly maintained for support of all employees' salaries and wages tested. Cause: The District has had vacancies in certain positions that are key parts of the District's control processes which led to the District not maintaining proper documentation. Effect or Potential Effect: Without adequate expenditure documentation, there is an increased risk that payroll costs charged to the federal award are inaccurate or unallowable. The lack of supporting records may result in questioned costs related to unsupported salary expenditures. Questioned Costs: None Recommendation: We recommend that the entity: - Implement and enforce policies requiring Personal Activity Reports or an equivalent method that meets 2 CFR 200.430. - Train employees and supervisors responsible for documenting and approving time charged to federal programs. -Maintain documentation that accurately reflects actual time worked on federal awards

Federal Program: ALN 93.575 Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Category: Compliance Compliance requirements: Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Record retention Condition: BGCPR did not maintain sufficient documentation to demonstrate compliance with minimum personnel qualification requirements. Criteria: Pursuant to 2 CFR §200.430(a)(2), costs of compensation are allowed only to the extent that the total compensation for individual employees follows an appointment made in accordance with the recipient's or subrecipient's laws, rules, or written policies Additionally, 2 CFR §200.303(a) requires recipients and subrecipients to establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance of compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Further, 2 CFR §200.403(g) requires costs charged to Federal awards to be adequately documented. Moreover, pursuant to 2 CFR §200.334, recipients and subrecipients must retain all Federal award records, including financial records, supporting documentation, and statistical records, for a minimum of three years from the date of submission of the final financial report. If litigation, claims, or audit findings are initiated before the expiration of the retention period, the records must be retained until all such matters are resolved and final action has been taken. Context: During testing of four payroll-related transactions selected for Allowable Activities and Allowable Costs compliance testing, we noted that one sampled employee did not meet the minimum educational and experience qualifications established for the position. Cause: For one payroll-related item, the personnel file did not contain documentation demonstrating that the employee met the minimum educational and experience qualifications established for the position. The employee did not possess the required bachelor's degree at the time of promotion. Although management subsequently provided an undated narrative explaining the basis for the hiring decision, no supporting documentation evidencing an approved exception at the time of promotion was maintained in the personnel file. Questioned cost: Amount is below the threshold to be considered a questioned cost. Effect or potential effect: As a result, BGCPR could not demonstrate that the employee's appointment was made in accordance with its established hiring requirements. Consequently, compensation costs charged to the Federal award may not be fully supported as allowable. Recommendation: Ensure personnel files contain documentation demonstrating that employees meet the minimum qualifications for their positions and retain evidence of any approved exceptions or waivers supporting hiring or promotion decisions. Views of officials responsible: BGCPR will provide additional training and guidance to Human Resources personnel to ensure consistent adherence to the internal procedures established. Anticipated completion date: September 30, 2026