Finding Text
Noncompliance with Federal and State Reporting Requirements Assistance Listing Numbers 21.027 American Rescue Plan Act Program
Federal Agencies U.S. Department of Treasury
Award Number/Year 2022
Criteria
The County has grant agreements from State of Illinois agencies with terms requiring compliance with financial reporting requirements in accordance with Uniform Guidance, the State of Illinois Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA), and 55 ILCS 5/6-31003. As such, for the year ended August 31, 2022, the County was required to submit audited financial statements, a schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) and single audit reports to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) and the same audit package plus a Consolidated Year End Financial Report (CYEFR) to the GATA portal. The County was also required to submit audited financial statements and an Annual Financial Report (AFR) to the Illinois Comptroller. The audited financial statements and AFR were required to be submitted by an extended due date of April 28, 2023. The audited financial statements, SEFA, single audit reports and CYEFR were required to be submitted to the GATA portal by February 28, 2023. The audited financial statements, SEFA and single audit reports were required to be submitted to the FAC by an extended due date of September 30, 2023. Condition
The County did not submit its audited financial statements, SEFA, CYEFR, AFR and other required information as of and for the year ended August 31, 2022 to the FAC, GATA portal, and Illinois Comptroller prior to the due dates specified above.
Cause
The County was not able to provide adequate documentation for transactions selected for testing in a timely manner which caused significant delays in the performance of the audit.
Effect
The effect is that controls over the financial reporting process were significantly weakened thereby increasing the risk that material misstatements could be included in the financial statements, SEFA, CYEFR, AFR and other supplementary schedules without management being aware. Additionally, noncompliance with financial reporting deadlines could cause funding sources for the County to suspend funding until compliance is achieved.
Questioned Costs
None noted.
Repeat Finding
Yes. This condition also occurred in fiscal years 2021 and 2020, but not reported as a finding.
Recommendation
We recommend that the County implement the recommendations detailed in the previous findings so that financial accounting records and reports can be prepared in advance of all financial reporting and grant reporting deadlines.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions
See corrective action plan.