Finding 1104798 (2024-002)

Finding 2024-002: Reporting (Material Weakness, repeat finding) U.S. Treasury Department – COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ALN 21.027) Statement of Condition: During testing several of the College’s quarterly ARPA expenditure reports were submitted to Bucks County after the deadline per the grant agreements. The reports tested were submitted between 1-189 days late. Criteria: The College is a subrecipient of ARPA funding from Bucks County. The grant agreements state the College must submit quarterly expenditure reports to the County 11 days after the end of the quarter (calendar year). Cause: The College did not have adequate controls in place to ensure the timely filing of expenditure reports. Effect: Failure to comply with ARPA reporting requirements could jeopardize future federal funding. Recommendation: We recommend that the College reconcile, review, and submit reports in a timely manner based on grant agreements. Questioned Costs: This finding does not result in questioned costs. View of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Management agrees with the finding, see corrective action plan. The College has strengthened the process to ensure the timely and accurate reconciliation, review, and submission of expenditure reports consistent with the requirements of all grant agreements. The College’s Grant Office created a Grant Project Management Platform to track compliance requirements for all grants including timely invoicing and reporting. This platform provides a dashboard and reminder functions for deadline monitoring. The Associate Dean, Academic Partnerships who manages the Grants Office, participates in weekly meetings with the Grants Manager and Executive Director, Research, Assessment, Data Analytics, & Reporting, to review deadlines and facilitate the timely and accurate completion of all tasks related to grant compliance.