Finding 1178997 (2024-006)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2026-03-11
Audit: 391415
Organization: City of Stockton (CA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The City failed to submit required quarterly reports for the CDBG program and inaccurately reported expenditures for the ARPA funding.
  • Impacted Requirements: Noncompliance with OMB Compliance Supplement and CARES Act reporting requirements, including late submissions and incorrect financial data.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a monitoring system to ensure timely and accurate report submissions, and provide training on compliance requirements for relevant staff.

Finding Text

2024-006 – Reporting – Internal Control and Compliance over Reporting Information of the Federal Program(s): Assistance Listing Number: 14.218 Assistance Listing Title: CDBG - Entitlement/Special Purpose Grants Cluster Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pass-Through Entity: N/A Federal Award Identification Number: B-20-MW-06-0026 Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Assistance Listing Title: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Pass-Through Entity: N/A Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Assistance Listing Number: 66.958 Assistance Listing Title: Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Federal Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pass-Through Entity: N/A Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): The OMB Compliance Supplement requires that reports submitted to the Federal awarding agency include all activity of the reporting period, are supported by underlying accounting information and are presented in accordance with program requirements. Community Development Block Grants-Entitlement Grants Cluster Pursuant to Guidance on Section 15011 of the CARES Act requires that recipients of $150,000 or more of CARES Act funding submit, not later than 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter, a report containing: information regarding the amount of funds received; the amount of funds obligated or expended for each project or activity; a detailed list of all such projects or activities, including a description of the project or activity; and detailed information on any subcontracts or subgrants awarded by the recipient. This report is limited to Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Cluster - COVID-19 funding and does not include other Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Cluster funds that may be used to address coronavirus. Grantees and subrecipients have reported data meeting the Section 15011 requirements at usaspending.gov. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), an independent oversight committee within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, has determined that the data reported in usaspending.gov has fulfilled these reporting requests. (“Section 15011 Report”). Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation) (Continued): Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports (QP&E) – All metropolitan cities and counties with a population that exceeds 250,000 residents that receive Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) are required to submit Project and Expenditure Reports. For these recipients, a quarterly Project and Expenditure Report must be submitted to U.S. Department of the Treasury by the last day of the month following the end of the period covered. The due dates of each quarterly reports is noted below: Reporting Period Grantee QP&E Covered Submission Deadlines July 1 - September 31, 2023 October 31, 2023 October 1 - December 31, 2023 January 31, 2024 January 1 - March 31, 2024 April 30, 2024 April 1 - June 30, 2024 July 31, 2024 The recipients are also required to disclose all current period obligations, cumulative obligations, current period expenditures, and cumulative expenditures in Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports, as a part of the obligations and expenditures requirement. Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation In accordance with Section 16, Annual Financial Statements, of the WIFIA Loan Agreement, the City is required to deliver to the WIFIA Lender, as soon as available but no later than one hundred eighty (180) days after the end of each City Fiscal Year, a copy of the audited income statement and balance sheet of the City, along with related audited statements of operations and cash flows for the fiscal year. Condition: CDBG - Entitlement/Special Purpose Grants Cluster (CDBG) We noted that the City did not submit any of the four (4) quarterly Section 15011 Reports for the year ended June 30, 2024. Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARPA) During testing of the City’s reporting under the ARPA Revenue Loss category, we noted that the City recorded $3,570,000 in expenditures related to revenue loss that were not reported in the quarterly Project and Expenditure (P&E) reports. Additionally, the April–June 2024 P&E report, which is also included in the annual performance report, incorrectly recorded an amount in 2023 revenue loss that duplicated the same amounts reported for 2022, resulting in a change to the reported revenue loss from the previous quarter. We also noted that two out of four quarterly P&E reports required for the year ended June 30, 2024 were submitted after the required due dates as follows: Grant / Project Period Covered Due Date Submitted SLT-3028-P&E Report-Q3 2023 July- Sept 2023 10/31/2023 11/5/2023 SLT-3028-P&E Report-Q1 2024 Jan- March 2024 4/30/2024 5/1/2024 Furthermore, the P&E report covering April–June 2024 did not include current period expenditure amounts for all projects. During our audit, we found that the City reported only $11,867,558 in the P&E reports instead of the actual $15,225,289 in expenditures incurred during year ended June 30, 2024. Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (WIFIA) During testing, we noted that the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for year ending June 30, 2024 was dated on September 17, 2025, which was after the 180 days submission deadline (December 27, 2024). Cause: The City was not aware of the Section 15011 CARES reporting. Lack of monitoring to ensure the timely submission of the required reports with appropriate support. The delay in financial reporting also led to the incompliance with the WIFIA reporting requirement. Effect or Potential Effect: Delay in filing and not filing the reports resulted in noncompliance with the compliance requirements, and the errors had led to potential misstatements on the SEFA. Questioned Costs: None. Context: See condition above for the context of the finding. Identification as a Repeat Finding, If Applicable: Yes. See prior year finding 2023-005. Recommendation: We recommend that the City conduct thorough research on the reports needed to be submitted and contact the grantor if there is any confusion. When a report cannot be submitted by the due date, the City should request an extension from the funding agency and maintain a record of the approval. Views of Responsible Officials: Management concurs with the finding.

Corrective Action Plan

2024-006 – Reporting – Internal Control and Compliance over Reporting City’s Corrective Action Plan: This finding is related to COVID-19 funding that was administered during the height of the pandemic, when multiple funding sources were required to be expended simultaneously. Section 15011 reporting was a new requirement within the CARES Act of 2020, to the Department and the City at that time. By the time this issue was identified as an area of deficiency in the prior audit period, it was no longer possible to retroactively correct or report for that respective audit year, nor for the current audit period. In response to the prior audit report, the City evaluated options to centralize Section 15011 reporting, given that it falls under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006 and is closely tied to procurement activities of over $150,000. The City explored whether this reporting could be managed through the City’s Grant Manager position under the Administrative Services Department (ASD) The City accepts the finding of noncompliance with WIFIA reporting requirements, as the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the year ended June 30, 2024 was dated September 17, 2025, which exceeded the required 180-day submission deadline of December 27, 2024. The delay was due to challenges in completing the City-wide ACFR resulting from ongoing staff turnover. As a corrective action, the City will strengthen internal processes and oversight to ensure the ACFR is completed and submitted in a timely manner in future reporting periods. The City will implement enhanced internal controls to ensure timely, accurate, and complete submission of Quarterly Project and Expenditure (P&E) Reports for both SLFRF and ARPA Revenue Loss. Corrective actions include establishing a formal internal reporting calendar with assigned responsibilities to meet Treasury deadlines, performing a documented quarterly reconciliation of general ledger obligations and expenditures to P&E report amounts, correcting prior reporting errors or duplications, and requiring supervisory review and approval of all reports before submission to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Additionally, the City will develop standardized reporting templates, provide staff training on Treasury reporting requirements, and maintain oversight by the Finance Director to ensure ongoing compliance, accuracy, and timely reporting of all expenditures. Responsible Person: Grants Manager; Accounting Manager, CFO and Departments Administering Grants Expected Implementation Date: FY 2026

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring Reporting Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1178985 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178986 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178987 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178988 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178989 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178990 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178991 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178992 2024-005
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178993 2024-005
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178994 2024-005
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178995 2024-006
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178996 2024-006
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178998 2024-007
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1178999 2024-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1179000 2024-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1179001 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1179002 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1179003 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1179004 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
66.958 WATER INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE AND INNOVATION (WIFIA) $108.00M
21.027 CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS $1.96M
97.044 ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT $1.18M
14.239 HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM $713,183
16.738 LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT CGIC INTEGRATION INITIATIVE $372,347
14.218 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/ENTITLEMENT GRANTS $317,215
97.083 STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE (SAFER) $295,212
16.753 CONGRESSIONALLY RECOMMENDED AWARDS $262,461
16.738 EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM $255,412
20.608 MINIMUM PENALTIES FOR REPEAT OFFENDERS FOR DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED $156,475
20.600 STATE AND COMMUNITY HIGHWAY SAFETY $116,061
14.231 EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT PROGRAM $85,353
66.818 BROWNFIELDS MULTIPURPOSE, ASSESSMENT, REVOLVING LOAN FUND, AND CLEANUP COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS $71,740
21.023 EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $49,858
20.205 HIGHWAY PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION $12,459
59.059 CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS INITIATIVE $7,353