Finding 1084350 (2023-002)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-11-14

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: One member district failed to provide adequate documentation for Time and Effort reporting, which is required for federal grant compliance.
  • Impacted Requirements: The lack of timely Time and Effort certifications raises questions about compliance with cost principles outlined in 2 CFR Part 200.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: BOCES should reinforce documentation requirements annually and collect Time and Effort reports as they are completed to ensure compliance.

Finding Text

84.011 MIGRANT EDUCATION PROGRAM – DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION –COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PASS-THROUGH 2023-002 ALLOWABLE COSTS 1. Criteria: The cost principles in 2 CFR Part 200, subpart E (Cost Principles), prescribe the cost accounting requirements associated with the administration of Federal awards by (1) States, local governments, and Indian tribes. 2. Condition: One of the BOCES member districts did not submit reasonable documentation to support the Time and Effort reporting required by the cost accounting requirements. 3. Context: While the BOCES is ultimately responsible for properly accounting for grant eligible costs, the BOCES does ”flowthrough” reimbursement to its member districts for salaries and benefits that are incurred directly by those districts. As such, the BOCES requires the member districts to retain proper support of Time and Effort at the district level which is to be available upon request. In one instance, while the support for the Time and Effort was submitted to the BOCES when requested, auditor review of that documentation lead to questions about the nature of when that documentation was completed. While the employees in question were not subject to specific timekeeping requirements as they were not allocated employees, the actual Time and Effort certifications were not completed timely relative to the underlying grant expenditures. 4. Cause: The specific cause could not be identified, however, the documentation provided evidence that Time and Effort certifications were not completed timely and that both the BOCES and district internal controls did not identify this failure. 5. Effect: While the BOCES was able to provide Time and Effort documentation for the underlying personnel costs, the timing of those certifications is being questioned. 6. Recommendation: Due to the potential of ongoing staffing changes at the member district level, the BOCES will want to reiterate documentation requirements annually. The BOCES may also want to start requesting Time and Effort documentation as it is completed by the member districts to ensure that they are complying with the documentation requirements. We would recommend that the BOCES ensure, as part of their annual grant closeout, that they have all documentation required to support grant expenditures maintained at the BOCES level in lieu of requesting that information on an as needed basis. 7. Management Response: Centennial BOCES will begin monitoring and collecting monthly time and effort for all listed employees of subgrantees. Centennial BOCES will continue to collect time and effort documentation within Centennial BOCES staff. The BOCES will treat subgrantee employees as if they were Centennial BOCES employees regarding collection of time and effort reports following appropriate policies and procedures. At fiscal year-end a reconciliation of all documents required, including time and effort documentation, will be completed.

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Subrecipient Monitoring Cash Management Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 507907 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 507908 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 1084349 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.011 Migrant Education State Grant Program $2.27M
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $1.02M
84.027 Special Education Grants to States $185,941
84.367 Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (formerly Improving Teacher Quality State Grants) $137,029
84.424 Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program $126,574
84.196 Education for Homeless Children and Youth $75,000
84.173 Special Education Preschool Grants $41,534
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $21,000
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $20,872
84.365 English Language Acquisition State Grants $8,585