Finding 23220 (2022-002)

Material Weakness
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-09-28
Audit: 25930
Organization: County of Mercer (PA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The County's internal controls failed to ensure accurate reporting of COVID-19 funds, leading to duplicate expense reporting and misclassification of $720,000.
  • Impacted Requirements: Quarterly reports must accurately reflect all expenditures and align with accounting records, as mandated by Treasury guidelines.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement procedures to ensure accurate quarterly reports and correct any discrepancies in previously submitted reports.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-002 ? Reporting U.S. Department of Treasury COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) ? ALN 21.027 Reporting Condition: The internal control system to ensure that the Project and Expenditure Report submitted to Treasury was accurate was not operating effectively. The County reported expenses on the fourth quarter report that had already been included on previous reports. In addition, the County elected to not apply expenditures related to a project to the CSLFRF funds for approximately $720,000 that were previously reported to Treasury as a use of these funds. Criteria: Quarterly reports are required to be accurate and include all activity of the reporting period, supported by the applicable accounting records and fairly presented in accordance with Treasury requirements. The reports are to include the current period expenditures, as well as the cumulative expenditures related to the projects. Cause: Internal controls in place to ensure that the quarterly reports were completed accurately were not adequate. Effect: The quarterly reports submitted to Treasury do not contain information supported by the accounting records of the County. Questioned Costs: Unknown. Identification as a Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding from the prior audit. Recommendation: We recommend the County implement a procedure to ensure that all required quarterly reports are completed accurately and verify that the cumulative expenditures agree to the previously submitted quarterly current period expenditures. In addition, we recommend that the County ensure proper correction of previously submitted reports. Management?s Response: Management agrees with this finding. See separate Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2022-002 - Reporting U.S. Department of Treasury COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SCLFRF) - ALN 21.027 Reporting Recommendation: We recommend the County implement a procedure to ensure that all required quarterly reports are completed accurately and verity that the cumulative expenditures agree to the previously submitted quarterly current period expenditures. In addition, we recommend that the County ensure proper correction of previously submitted reports. Corrective Action Plan: We concur with the importance of this recommendation. Our general ledger continues to record properly all transactions but we have duplicated some entries in the US Treasury Reporting System. We will implement by October 20, 2023, a tracking worksheet in which we will post our general ledger transaction data, classifying each expenditure since inception by the "project" and by the quarter in which it was made. We will use the tracking worksheet to complete prior to the due date the report for the quarter ending September 30, 2023. Following that, we will use the tracking worksheet to work with the US Treasury "Help Desk" to determine the proper protocol to resolve all prior reporting duplications and to revise the previous quarterly reports so each quarter's cumulative expenditures agree with the County general ledger. The above work will be completed by December 31, 2023, by the Mercer County Fiscal Administrator. Summary Schedule of Prior Audit Findings Year Ended December 31, 2022 NONE

Categories

Reporting Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 23218 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 23219 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 599660 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 599661 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 599662 2022-002
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.023 Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program $5.98M
21.027 Covid-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $5.55M
14.231 Covid-19 Emergency Solutions Grant Program $281,604
93.659 Adoption Assistance $221,565
14.228 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $181,217
93.563 Child Support Enforcement $173,161
93.958 Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services $156,047
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $144,573
20.205 Highway Planning and Construction $119,907
97.042 Emergency Management Performance Grants $107,528
93.667 Social Services Block Grant $102,076
16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program $70,127
14.228 Covid-19 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $60,958
93.674 John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood $56,552
93.150 Projects for Assistance in Transition From Homelessness (path) $56,180
14.231 Emergency Solutions Grant Program $48,982
90.404 Hava Election Security Grants $48,243
16.034 Covid-19 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program $46,076
93.556 Mary Lee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families $43,485
84.181 Special Education-Grants for Infants and Families $36,206
93.645 Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program $35,161
93.658 Foster Care_title IV-E $31,673
97.029 Flood Mitigation Assistance $30,842
93.669 Child Abuse and Neglect State Grants $27,953
15.226 Payments in Lieu of Taxes $27,675
10.568 Emergency Food Assistance Program (administrative Costs) $17,230
12.112 Payments to States in Lieu of Real Estate Taxes $8,947
15.611 Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education $2,911
93.556 Promoting Safe and Stable Families $2,652
93.090 Guardianship Assistance $67
93.778 Medical Assistance Program $18