Finding Text
Finding 2022-002 – COVID 19 – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund - AL No. 21.027
U.S. Department of Treasury
Norfolk County
Noncompliance and Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance of the Major Programs
Condition: Upon review of the Town of Bellingham’s report filed with the U.S. Department of Treasury and Norfolk County it was noted that the reports did not agree with the Town’s accounting ledgers.
Criteria: Per the U.S. Department of Treasury the Town was required to submit an accurate annual Recovery Plan Performance Report. Additionally, the Town was required to submit quarterly performance reports to Norfolk County.
Context: The annual report submitted to the U.S. Department of Treasury indicated that the Town had no expenditures which was incorrect. The quarterly report submitted to Norfolk County for the time period of April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022 did not agree to the accounting ledgers.
Effect: The Town of Bellingham was not in compliance with the U.S. Department of Treasury and Norfolk County reporting requirements.
Questioned Costs: N/A
Cause: During this time period, the Grant Administrator compiled manually created records to support the reporting requirement. Those manual records were not properly reconciled with the General Ledger reports prior to submission to the required agencies.
Identification as a Repeat Finding: Yes, 2021-002
Recommendation: The Town of Bellingham should complete and submit all required quarterly reporting by the due date designated by either the Federal Agency or pass through entity and ensure that it agrees with grant activity for time period reported.
Managements Response: The Town has trained the Grants Administrator on procedures to reconcile General Ledger reports with manually created project-based records. The Town is also implementing a procedure whereby the CFO signs each required report before submitting.