Finding 2024- 006 – Indirect Cost Rate Pool, Noncompliance and Significant Deficiency Federal award agency: Federal Transit Administration Program name and ALN: Federal Transit Cluster ALN 20.507 Federal Transit Formula Grants, ALN 20.525 State of Good Repair Grants Federal award identification number: IL-90-X717, IL-90-X726, IL-90-X743, IL-2016-021-01, IL-2017-028-02, IL-2018-024-01, IL-2019-022-02, IL-2021-002-02, IL-2020-050-02, IL-2021-002-01, IL-2020-018-01, IL-2021-050-02, IL-2021-024-01, IL-2022-032-02, IL-2022-005-01, IL-2023-036-02, IL-2023-036-04, IL-2024-025-02, IL-54-0002, IL-54-0003, IL-54-0006, IL-2016-020-01, IL-2017-028-01, IL-2018-024-02, IL-2019-022-01, IL-2020-050-01, IL-2021-050-01, IL-2022-032-01, IL-2022-032-03, IL-2023-036-01, IL-2023-036-03, IL-2024-025-01 Federal award year: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Criteria: Under 2 CFR 200.441 (Fines, penalties, damages and other settlements), fines and penalties resulting from violations of, or failure to comply with, federal, state, local, or tribal laws and regulations are unallowable costs, unless incurred as a result of compliance with specific provisions of a federal award or with prior written approval of the federal awarding agency. Appendix V to 2 CFR Part 200 provides the required framework for states and local governments to identify, document, and allocate centralized service costs to benefitted Federal programs through a governmentwide cost allocation plan, as referenced by 200.414 for indirect cost recovery. Additionally, 2 CFR 200.403 and 2 CFR 200.414 require that indirect cost rates be based on allowable, allocable, and reasonable costs and that unallowable costs be excluded from indirect cost pools used to allocate costs to federal awards. Condition: During our testing of the underlying activity supporting the auditee’s federally approved indirect cost rate, we identified that the indirect cost rate pool submitted to and approved by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) included a tax penalty related to the late payment of a state/local tax obligation. The tax penalty was not identified and excluded from the indirect cost pool prior to submission for rate approval. The tax penalty was not directly charged to any federal award; however, because it was included in the approved indirect cost rate pool, a portion of the unallowable cost was allocated to federal awards through application of the indirect cost rate during the audit period. Cause: The auditee did not have sufficient review controls over the preparation of the indirect cost rate proposal to ensure that unallowable costs, including tax penalties, were identified and excluded from the indirect cost pool prior to submission and approval by the FTA. Effect or potential effect: As a result, the FTA approved indirect cost rate was calculated using a pool that included unallowable costs, causing a portion of the tax penalty to be indirectly charged to federal awards. Questioned costs: N/A Context: The unallowable tax penalty identified in the indirect cost pool represents $487,000, an amount in relation to the total overhead costs included in the cost allocation plan of approximately $87.9 million. The approved indirect cost allocation plan was used to charge approximately $17 million to the major program during the audit period. Recommendation: We recommend that the auditee: • Revise its indirect cost rate development procedures to ensure unallowable costs are excluded from the indirect cost pool prior to submission; • Strengthen review controls over indirect cost proposals to ensure compliance with 2 CFR Part 200; and • Coordinate with the FTA to determine whether a rate adjustment, rate correction, or reimbursement to federal programs is required for amounts allocated using the affected indirect cost rate. Views of responsible officials: Management acknowledges the finding and agrees that remediation is necessary. Management will implement the recommendations that it has defined within the corrective action plan required by Title 2 CFR 200.511 (c) executed on April 16, 2026.