Finding 21247 (2022-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
A
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2022-11-13

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District lacks adequate documentation for salaries and wages charged to the Special Education Cluster, leading to significant deficiencies in internal controls.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR 200.430(i) is not met, as proper personnel activity reports and time certifications are missing for federal cost objectives.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The District should strengthen internal controls and ensure adherence to time and effort reporting procedures to accurately support payroll expenditures.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-001 ? Allowable Costs/Cost Principles ? Time and Effort Reporting Finding Type: Significant deficiency in internal control over compliance and noncompliance with laws and regulations. Federal Program: Special Education Cluster ALN #: 84.027 and 84.173 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-through Entity: Michigan Department of Education Pass-through Number: 220450, 220493, 221280, 220460, 221285 Criteria: 2 CFR 200.430(i) requires that charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be supported by adequate documentation in accordance with the District?s payroll policies. Per the District?s federal policies, the District is required to support payroll charges to federal cost objectives with adequate documentation including personnel activity reports, for those who split their time between multiple cost objectives, and semi-annual time certifications, for those who work 100 percent of their time on a single cost objective. Condition: The District did not maintain adequate support documentation to substantiate salaries and wages charged to the Special Education Cluster resulting in periods of ineffective or absent controls. Questioned Costs: The total charges included in our sample that were not supported by adequate documentation amount to $37,823. Cause: This condition appears to be the result of turnover in personnel who were responsible for obtaining personnel activity reports and semi-annual time certifications for those employees charged to federal cost objectives. Effect: As a result of this condition, the District is unable to adequately support the accuracy of payroll expenditures charged to the grant. Recommendation: The District should adhere to documented time and effort reporting procedures and maintain effective internal controls that ensure salaries and wages allocated to federal cost objectives are based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. District?s Response: The District concurs with the facts of this finding and will continue to establish effective controls to ensure time and effort reporting is consistent with the District?s policies, and that all charges to the grant are adequately supported.

Corrective Action Plan

Huron Intermediate School District respectfully submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2022 Auditor: Anderson, Tuckey, Bernhardt, & Doran, P.C. 715 E. Frank St. Caro, MI 48723 Audit Period: Year ended June 30, 2022 District Contact Person: Candice Halifax, Director of Finance and Carrie Brabant, Special Education Accountant The finding from the June 30, 2022 schedule of findings and questioned costs is discussed below. The finding is numbered consistently with the number assigned in the schedule. Finding ? Federal Award Programs Audit Finding 2022-001 ? Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Recommendation: The District should adhere to documented time and effort reporting procedures and maintain effective internal controls that ensure salaries and wages allocated to federal cost objectives are based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. Action to be taken: The School District will review the time and effort reporting and align it with the staff federal cost objectives on a quarterly basis to ensure the documentation accurately reflects the work performed.

Categories

Questioned Costs Allowable Costs / Cost Principles

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 597689 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.027 Special Education_grants to States $1.16M
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $347,852
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $51,186
93.778 Medical Assistance Program $44,953
84.181 Special Education-Grants for Infants and Families $26,522
93.434 Every Student Succeeds Act/preschool Development Grants $23,315
84.358 Rural Education $19,041
84.173 Special Education_preschool Grants $17,119
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $16,073
10.649 Pandemic Ebt Administrative Costs $614