Finding 1155835 (2024-002)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
C
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-10-07
Audit: 368223
Organization: Bay County, Florida (FL)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Ineligible payroll costs were approved for reimbursement, indicating a material weakness in internal controls.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR section 200.303, which mandates proper internal controls for managing federal awards.
  • Recommended Follow-up: Implement an additional review process for payroll costs, ensuring documentation of approval before submission.

Finding Text

Assistance Listing Number: 97.083 Program Title: Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER)Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A - Direct Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: EMW-2019-FF-01635 2019 Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control and Compliance Known Questioned Costs: $0 Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Condition: Of the three reimbursement requests selected for testing, two reimbursement requests had ineligible payroll costs approved for reimbursement by the Grant Administrator. This was not a statistically valid sample. Cause: Errors in the completion of the report by the Grant Administrator and inadequate review of the reports by the County which would have detected these errors. Effect: In both instances, the grantor caught the ineligible costs submitted for reimbursement and only reimbursed the eligible payroll costs. However, this could have been a much more significant issue if the grantor had not caught these ineligible costs which would then have caused the County to be out of compliance with the requirements of the grant. Recommendation: The County should implement an additional review of the payroll costs submitted with the reimbursement request. Review should be documented via signature of approval prior to submission or formal email confirmation that a review was done and the reimbursement request may be submitted. Management Response: See attached Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding Number: 2024-002 Planned Corrective Action: To prevent future reporting deficiencies, the County will implement additional review processes, including but not limited to review by the Clerk of Court Board Finance Office, of the payroll costs submitted with the reimbursement requests. Any reviews will be documented with an approval via a formal email confirmation. Anticipated Completion Date: 10/1/2025 Responsible Contact Person: Katy Nail

Categories

Cash Management Subrecipient Monitoring Eligibility Material Weakness Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1155832 2024-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1155833 2024-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1155834 2024-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $3.67M
20.507 Federal Transit Formula Grants $1.01M
20.205 Highway Planning and Construction $940,236
97.083 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (safer) $900,499
97.046 Fire Management Assistance Grant $342,461
97.039 Hazard Mitigation Grant $334,838
10.766 Community Facilities Loans and Grants $221,444
16.588 Violence Against Women Formula Grants $195,776
21.015 Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States $191,362
14.228 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $141,760
87.052 Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Oil Spill Impact Program $95,955
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance $89,607
97.042 Emergency Management Performance Grants $84,586
20.526 Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low Or No Emissions Programs $78,430
93.563 Child Support Services $77,236
20.600 State and Community Highway Safety $61,438
97.067 Homeland Security Grant Program $47,818
20.509 Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program $33,766
16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program $30,958
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $19,434
21.032 Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund $11,550
20.939 Safe Streets and Roads for All $8,716
20.616 National Priority Safety Programs $5,576
16.742 Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement Grant Program $2,787