Finding Text
Identification of the Federal Program: Assistance Listing Number: 16.922 Assistance Listing Title: Equitable Sharing Program Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Justice Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): Prior to entering into subawards and contracts with award funds, recipients must ensure that contractors and subcontractors are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participation in federally funded programs pursuant to 2 CFR Part 180 and 2 CFR §200.214. Condition: During the audit, we noticed that the City did not perform suspension and debarment checks on the contractors that they hired with Asset Forfeiture monies. Cause: The City does not have formal policies and procedures in place to ensure the suspension and debarment review process over vendors that provides goods or services to the City’s programs was conducted prior to entering into a contract. Effect or Potential Effect: Without verifying whether vendors are suspended or debarred from working on federally-funded projects prior to the contract being awarded, the City could be contracting with vendors that are prohibited from working on federally funded projects and incurring potentially disallowed costs. Questioned Costs: None noted. Context: See condition above for the context of the finding. Identification as a Repeat Finding, If Applicable: No. Recommendation: We recommended the City develop policies and procedures to incorporate the suspension and debarment verification prior to awarding contracts. Views of Responsible Officials: Management concurs with the finding and agrees to implement necessary corrective procedures.