Finding 1172737 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-06

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The City inaccurately reported prior period costs as current expenditures in a quarterly report for federal funds.
  • Impacted Requirements: This violates 2 CFR 200.303 and Treasury's reporting guidance, risking non-compliance with federal program requirements.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The City should closely review reporting instructions to ensure accurate completion of future Project and Expenditure Reports.

Finding Text

2025-001 Reporting Federal Program Information: Federal Agency and Program Name : Federal Assistance Listing Number U.S. Department of the Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - 21.027 Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 requires that a non-federal entity must “(a) establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).”The terms and conditions of the funding require the recipient to submit quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Information required to be included in these quarterly reports includes projects funded, expenditures, obligations, and other information. Treasury’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Compliance and Reporting Guidance requires that “Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1.” Condition: For one of the quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports submitted, certain costs from prior periods had been reported as current period expenditures under the program. Questioned Costs: Unknown Context: Total federal expenditures for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds were $16,810,743 for the year ended June 30, 2025. Cause: The City did not appropriately report current and prior period expenditures in the Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports. Effect: Reports submitted to the Treasury could be inaccurate and using the wrong amounts could lead to non- compliance with related program requirements. Recommendation: We recommend that the City review the reporting instructions more closely to ensure they are appropriately implemented in completing the Project and Expenditure Report and ensure the amounts used are appropriate. Views of Responsible Officials: Management acknowledges the finding. See corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2025-001 Reporting Federal Agency- U.S. Department of the Treasury Program Name - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF} Federal Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 2 CFR 200.303 requires that a non-federal entity must "(a) establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in "Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government" issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and the "Internal Control Integrated Framework", issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)." The terms and conditions of the funding require the recipient to submit quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury {Treasury). Information required to be included in these quarterly reports includes projects funded, expenditures, obligations, and other information. Treasury's Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Guidance requires that "Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1." Responsible Officials: The City of Charleston utilizes an outside agency to compile and submit the required quarterly reports to the Department of Treasury for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. City officials provide the details of the projects funded, expenditures, obligations, and all other required information to the outside agency, who will then compile and submit the report. Upon review of prior period reports, City officials discovered that the expenditure amount for one of the projects was less than the amount provided to the outside agency for the report. The City brought this to the attention of the outside agency, then increased the project expenditures of the report in question so that the project to-date.

Categories

Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1172736 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
14.218 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/ENTITLEMENT GRANTS $2.94M
14.239 HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM $2.60M
20.933 BETTER UTILIZING INVESTMENTS TO LEVERAGE DEVELOPMENT (BUILD) $1.72M
21.027 CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS $499,407
16.753 BJA- BYRNE DISCRETIONARY $409,584
20.600 CPD HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM $226,500
17.289 WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT $121,505
95.001 APPALACHIA HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA- MDENT $119,061
16.753 BYRNE DISCRETIONARY COMMUNITY PROJECT $109,955
16.922 EQUITABLE SHARING PROGRAM $87,440
14.251 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING, AND MISCELLANEOUS GRANTS $68,567
93.788 OPIOID STR $47,161
16.738 EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM $42,447
16.579 MDENT Task Force $40,000
97.067 HOMELAND SECURITY K-9 $36,316
16.579 JAG PREVENTION RESOURCE OFFICERS $25,000
16.302 FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS $20,265
16.012 ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND FIREARMS_TRAINING ASSISTANCE $1,340
14.218 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/ENTITLEMENT GRANTS CV (CARES ACT ALLOCATION-JULY 2020) $0