Finding Text
Finding 2023-005: Utility Allowance Review
Housing Choice Voucher – 14.871
Material Weakness/Noncompliance – Special Tests and Provisions
Criteria: The Authority must maintain an up-to-date utility allowance schedule. The Authority must review utility rate data for each utility category each year and must adjust its utility allowance schedule if there has been a rate change of 10 percent or more for a utility category or fuel type since the last time the utility allowance schedule was revised (24 CFR section 982.517).
Condition: During our audit, the Authority indicated it had contacted the utility companies and rates had not changed so the utility allowances were not updated, however, the Authority was unable to provide any documentation that these procedures were done.
Cause: The Authority did not document the utility allowance review.
Effect or Potential Effect: The Authority was unable to document it complied with the utility allowance review requirement.
Recommendation: The Authority should document all future reviews including its calculations to show if the change was more or less than 10%.
View of the Responsible Officials of the Auditee: The auditee’s management agrees with the finding.