Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Federal Program Name: Coronavirus State Recovery Funds (SLFRF) Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: Unknown Pass-Through Agency: Norfolk County Pass-Through Number(s): Unknown Award Period: March 3, 2021 to December 31, 2026 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Award requires compliance with the provisions of procurement, suspension, and debarment. Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions that are suspended or debarred. Before entering into a covered transaction, the entity must verify that the contractor is not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. Condition: The Town did not maintain documentation to support that vendors were verified as not suspended or debarred prior to entering into a covered transaction. Questioned Costs: None. Context: For five of five contracts selected for testing, there was no evidence that suspension and debarment had been verified prior to entering into the contract. Cause: The Town did not establish effective internal controls for maintaining sufficient evidence that a suspension and debarment check was completed before issuing contracts. Effect: Without documented suspension and debarment verification, the Town could not demonstrate compliance with Federal requirements. This increases the risk that Federal funds could be used in transactions with contractors that are suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participation in Federal awards. Section III – Findings and Questioned Costs – Major Federal Programs (Continued) Recommendation: We recommend that the Town strengthen its written policies, procedures, and internal controls to require suspension and debarment verifications before entering into federally funded contracts and that verification is properly maintained. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.