Finding 1075781 (2023-002)

FINDING 2023-002 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): 2023 Compliance Requirement: Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2022-002. Condition and Context Procurement Policy Recipients may use award funds to enter into contracts to procure goods and services necessary to implement one or more of the eligible purposes outlined for COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) award funds. Policies and procedures for the procurement of the goods and services must be the County's own documented procedures which reflect applicable state and federal laws and regulations. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 18 BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) The County did not have documented procurement procedures or policies reflecting applicable state or federal laws and regulations for procuring goods and services paid with federal funds. Suspension and Debarment Prior to entering into subawards and covered transactions with the SLFRF award funds, recipients are required to verify that such contractors and subrecipients are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. "Covered transactions" include, but are not limited to, contracts for goods and services awarded under a nonprocurement transaction (i.e., grant agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000. The verification is to be done by checking the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), collecting a certification from that person, or adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person. The County did not have any policies or procedures in place for verifying that an entity with which it plans to enter into a covered transaction is not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. A population of seven covered transactions, totaling $2,631,684, that equaled or exceeded $25,000 paid from SLFRF funds were identified. Four of the seven covered transactions, totaling $1,399,462, were selected for testing. For each of the four transactions, the County did not verify the vendors' suspension or debarment status prior to payment due to the County not having any policies or procedures in place to verify that contractors were neither suspended nor debarred, or otherwise excluded or disqualified, from participating in federal assistance programs or activities. The lack of intenral controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.318(a) states: "The non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations and the standards of this section, for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward. The non- Federal entity's documented procurement procedures must conform to the procurement standards identified in §§ 200.317 through 200.327." 31 CFR 19.300 states: "When you enter into a covered transaction with another person at the next lower tier, you must verify that the person with whom you intend to do business is not excluded or disqualified. You do this by: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) Checking the EPLS; or (b) Collecting a certification from that person if allowed by this rule; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person." Cause The County did not have a procurement policy in place that contained the requirements of the procurement standards as outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations. Due to the timing of the adoption of the County's Suspension and Debarment Policy, which defines procedures to verify suspension and debarment status for covered transactions, the items selected for testing were not verified. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the County cannot ensure that goods and services are appropriately procured and that contractors paid with federal funds are eligible to participate in federal programs. Any program funds the County used to pay contractors that have been suspended or debarred would be unallowable, and the funding agency could potentially recover them. Furthermore, noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommend that management of the County strengthen its system of internal controls to ensure that all contractors that are paid $25,000 or more, all or in part with federal funds, are not suspended or debarred from participating in federal programs before entering into contracts. We also recommended strengthening its policies to reflect applicable state and federal laws and regulations for procuring goods and services paid with federal funds. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.