Finding Text
Federal Program Title: Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response
Federal Catalog Number: 97.083
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Category of Finding: Activities Allowed/Unallowed
Criteria: According to 2 CFR 200.430, employees working on federally funded projects are required to submit
timesheets that accurately reflect the time spent on the project. These timesheets must be approved by a
responsible supervisor to ensure that the reported hours are accurate, reasonable, and properly allocated.
Additionally, organizations must establish and maintain effective internal controls to ensure compliance with
timekeeping and payroll procedures.
Condition: During the audit, it was found that the City's time roster report approval process was not consistently
followed. We selected four pay periods for testing. In two of these periods, the time roster reports were not
properly reviewed and approved by a battalion chief supervisor before submission for payroll processing. These
time roster reports were automatically approved by the system to meet payroll processing deadlines, bypassing
the required supervisory review.
Cause: The failure to adhere to the time roster report approval process was due to a lack of oversight and
insufficient enforcement of internal control procedures.
Effect or Potential Effect: The lack of proper time roster approval creates a risk of inaccuracies in the allocation
of payroll costs to federal grants, which could result in non-compliance with federal regulations. Additionally,
failure to follow the required process could lead to improper charging of labor costs, potentially jeopardizing the
City’s eligibility for future funding and risking the disallowance of grant-related costs.
Questioned Cost: None.
Repeat of a Prior-Year Finding: No.
Recommendation: We recommend the City to strengthen its internal controls related to time roster report
approval. Specifically, a formal time roster report approval process should be implemented that includes clear
guidelines for timely approval by supervisors. The City should also establish a tracking system to ensure that
time roster report is approved before submission for payroll processing. Regular training for staff and supervisors
on the importance of accurate timekeeping and approval procedures should be conducted to reinforce
compliance with federal grant requirements.
Management Response and Corrective Action Plan
City's Response: The City uses Telestaff to maintain Fire employees’ work schedules and as the system
of record for payroll timekeeping. The audit identified several rosters that were not finalized (approved) by
the Duty Chief before the conclusion of their shift and were auto-finalized by the system. Going forward,
the City will ensure that the finalization process by the Duty Chief, which essentially serves to confirm that
the time and attendance as reflected in Telestaff is what was actually worked, is adhered to. Oxnard Fire
Department Policy 1005 requires that the Duty Chief review and approve the roster at the conclusion of
their shift to verify the accuracy of the roster for payroll processing.
In instances where overtime related to late relief is in unapproved status (depicted with an asterisk in the
system), the Duty Chief will ensure the late relief is approved before finalizing the daily roster.
After the roster is finalized (approved) by the Duty Chief, the timekeeper reviews the roster for the
appropriate general ledger account(s), paycode(s), and project coding to ensure proper accounting of
payroll costs. If the Duty Chief has not finalized the roster by 0800, the timekeeper will inform the
Department Assistant Chiefs to initiate completion of the task.
Corrective Action Plan: The Department will conduct a formal review of its processes and policies to
identify potential weaknesses in the payroll timekeeping and approval process, and will update its policies
and procedures to align with the roles and responsibilities of those involved in rostering and timekeeping.
The department has already taken corrective action to ensure that duty chiefs are finalizing the rosters
before the end of their shift and making it the responsibility of the timekeeper to initiate action when
finalization by the Duty Chiefs has not occurred so the timekeepers review process can be completed.
Planned Implementation Date: June 30, 2025
Responsible Person(s): Karsten Guthrie and Rose Rodarte