Finding Text
Name: Community Development Block Grants/State's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii, ASL#: 14.228; Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Pass Through Entity: State Department of Housing and Community Development; Award No.: 21-CDBG-CV-TRIB; Year: 2024/2025; Compliance Requirement: Other; Criteria: 2CFR Section 200.302 (Financial Management) and 2 CFR Section 200.334 (Retention Requirements for Records) require that non-federal entities maintain documentation that adequately supports federal expenditures, including original invoices, receipts, and approvals demonstrating that costs were allowable, necessary, and reasonable. Condition: During our testing of 40 disbursements for the Community Development Block Grants/State's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii, we identified two instances (5% error rate) totaling $24.98 where the disbursement was not supported by an original vendor invoice or receipt. Cause: Controls were not consistently followed before processing payments. Effect: The lack of supporting documentation increases the risk that unauthorized, unallowable, or fraudulent expenditures could be charged to the federal program without detection. Questioned Cost: As a result, we are questioning costs of $24.98. Context: The sample was intended to be a systematically valid sample from a population of 556 transactions. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that the management strengthen controls over disbursements by ensuring that no payment is processed wihtout a valid, itemized invoice thta has been approved by authorized personnel. Furthermore, all supporting docuemtnation should be attached to the payment voucher and retained for audit purposes. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Refer to separate Management's Corrective Action Plan for view of responsible officials and management's responses.