Finding Text
Criteria: Organizations operating the Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Program are required to maintain sufficient internal controls to ensure compliance with tenant utility allowances requirement.
Condition: 7 of the 25 participants selected for testing had incorrect utility charges reported on the utility allowance determination worksheet. As a result, 1 of these 7 participants had an incorrectly calculated utility allowance.
Cause: Sufficient internal control procedures to ensure that tenant utility allowances are properly established did not exist.
Effect: Tenant utility allowance potentially not properly established.
Auditor's Recommendation: We recommend that an internal control procedure be implemented to ensure accuracy of the data input into the utility allowance determination worksheet.
View of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action:
Management will contact MassHousing and inform them of the incorrect utility allowance approval and provide supporting documentation to explain error. Management will follow guidance from MassHousing to resolve the discrepancy.