Finding Text
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listings Number: 84.010 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S010A190014, S010A200014, S010A210014 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not developed at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. The School Corporation approved a salary schedule for bus drivers which included additional compensation based on miles driven for bus drivers who transported preschool students. Each pay period, the Director of Transportation calculated a bus driver's daily pay by adding the approved hourly wage rate times hours worked to the per mile rate times miles driven for the preschool route, if applicable. The School Corporation provided approved timesheets for the bus drivers selected for testing; however, the calculation of the daily pay calculation was not provided for audit. The bus drivers' payroll of $113,486 charged to the Title I grants during the audit period were considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not established a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs were $113,486 as identified in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.