Finding Text
Criteria: Allowable Costs/Activites Allowed. The District is required to report allowable costs/activities allowed based on the grant, the grant budget and for the period of the grant. In general, grantees are not allowed to begin an activity or obligate or expend funds that will be charged to a state or federal grant until a substantially approvable initial application (see 34 CFR 76.708) has been received at ISBE. At a minimum, a “substantially approvable application” is a complete grant application and supporting budget detail with assurances. Grantees that submit a state or federal initial application prior to the program begin date (usually July 1) will be granted an appropriate project begin date for the following fiscal year unless state appropriation authority has not been approved. Grantees that submit a state or federal initial application after July 1 will be assigned a project begin date no earlier than when the initial application was received at ISBE or the program begin date (whichever is later). Condition: It was noted that the IDEA Preschool Flowthrough grant application was submitted late, establishing a grant start date of 12/19/23. Due to the late start date, any expenditures that were obligated or services that were provided prior to the submittal date were not grant allowable costs. The expenditure reports that were submitted and subsequently reimbursed included costs from 7/1/23 - 12/18/23, which occured prior to the grant start date. Per 2 CFR 200.403(h) and guidelines established above, costs must be incurred during the approved budget period. Questioned Costs: There are $4,646 questioned costs associated with this grant. Context: The IDEA Preschool Flowthrough grant application was submitted late, establishing a grant start date of 12/19/23. The expenditure report submitted 12/31/23 for expenditures through that date, included purchased services that occurred before the grant start date of 12/19/23. There were 2 expenditures claimed in Payments to Other Governmental Unit Purchased Services in the 12/19/23 expenditure report that were all purchased in September and November 2023, totaling $4,646, which represent the total questioned costs of for the grant years. Effect: The District mistakenly claimed $4,646 of unallowable expenses. There is an increased risk that these funds will be subject to repayment as they were incorrectly submitted for reimbursement. Cause: This was an oversight by management personnel in the District when submitting the first expenditure report for the grant. The District mistakenly included expenses occuring before the application start-date. Recommendation: The District should take steps to submit grant applications in a timely manner to ensure that they are able to claim all expenses as budgeted. The District should ensure that expenditure reports filed in grants with begin dates occuring after the start of the fiscal year does not include expenses occuring before the begin date, including reconciling general ledger records against the expenditure reports prior to submission. Management's Response: The District will take steps to submit grant applications in a timely manner. The District will take all necessary steps to reconcile the general ledger to the expenditure reports to ensure ineligible costs are not included on the expenditure report.