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2025-001 – Noncompliance with Competitive Bidding Requirements – Significant Deficiency Federal Assistance Listing Number (“FALN”): 10.558 Name of Program or Cluster: Child and Adult Care Food Program Federal Agencies: Department of Agriculture Pass-through Entities: New York State Department of Health (10.558) Compliance Requirement: Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Condition The organization did not obtain the required number of written bids in accordance with its procurement policy. Fewer bids than required were obtained or documentation supporting the solicitation and receipt of bids was not maintained. Additionally, multiple purchases were made from the same vendor for similar goods or services during the fiscal year, and the aggregate amount exceeded thresholds requiring competitive bids; however, documentation did not demonstrate that these purchases were evaluated collectively for procurement purpose. Criteria The Settlement’s procurement policy requires three written bids for purchases between $5,000 and $25,000 and five written bids for purchases exceeding $25,000 but not exceeding $100,000. A public solicitation of a minimum of five bids must be conducted for purchases that exceed $100,000 Additionally, Uniform Grant Guidance (“UGG”) (2 CFR 200.318–200.320) requires procurements to be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition and requires entities to maintain records sufficient to detail the procurement history, including the basis for vendor selection. UGG also prohibits splitting procurements to avoid competition requirements. Cause Procurement procedures were not consistently followed due to inadequate review and oversight controls to ensure compliance with established bidding requirements and documentation standards. Effect Failure to obtain the required number of bids may limit competition and increases the risk that purchases are not made at the most advantageous price. It may also result in noncompliance with internal procurement policies and UGG requirements, which could lead to questioned costs. Questioned Costs None Context No questioned costs were identified as the goods and services were received and costs appeared reasonable and allowable. Recommendation Management should strengthen procurement controls by ensuring that the required number of written bids are obtained and documented in accordance with procurement policy. Management should also implement procedures to monitor purchases from the same vendor to ensure related procurements are evaluated collectively and comply with competitive bidding requirements. Views of Responsible Officials See Corrective Action Plan in Appendix 1.