Finding Text
Finding 2025-006 - Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Federal Program: COVID-19 – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 21.027 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Pass-Through Grantor: Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) Grant Year: 2021 Federal Program: Clean Water State Revolving Fund Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 66.458 Federal Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pass-Through Grantor: Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) Grant Year: 2024 Criteria Government-wide requirements for nonprocurement suspension and debarment are contained in 2 CFR Part 180 and 2 CFR 200.214. Non-Federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards to parties that are suspended or debarred. Prior to entering into covered transactions expected to equal or exceed $25,000, the non-Federal entity must verify that the vendor is not suspended or debarred. Verification may be accomplished by checking the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) or through other acceptable methods as outlined in federal regulations. Condition The City did not perform or document verification procedures to ensure that contractors used in the program were not suspended or debarred prior to entering into covered transactions. Independently we reviewed that the contractors were not suspended or debarred. Cause: The City does not have a control system in place to ensure that the required suspension and debarment is verified and documented. Effect or Potential Effect Failure to verify that contractors were not suspended or debarred resulted in noncompliance with federal procurement requirements. As a result, there is an increased risk that federal funds could be paid to ineligible contractors. If contractors used in the program had been suspended or debarred, the City could be required to repay the granting agency for the related expenditures. Questioned Costs None Context For the COVID-19 – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds grant, of the 16 covered transactions tested, the City did not maintain formal documentation for any of the 16 transactions to demonstrate that the vendors were not suspended or debarred. For the Clean Water State Revolving Fund grant, of the 23 covered transactions tested, the City did not maintain formal documentation for 9 transactions to demonstrate that the vendors were not suspended or debarred. Acceptable documentation may include a certification from the vendor, a suspension and debarment clause included in the contract, or evidence of a SAM.gov search performed and retained in the procurement file. Identification as a repeat finding This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend the City strengthen its procurement procedures to ensure suspension and debarment verification is performed and documented prior to entering into covered transactions funded with federal awards. Verification may be accomplished by checking System for Award Management (SAM.gov), obtaining vendor certification, or including a suspension and debarment certification in the contract. Views of Responsible Officials Management concurs with the finding. See Corrective Action Plan.