Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Name: Special Education Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173
Pass-Through Agency: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Pass-Through Number(s): 240-542976-2002-0308, 240-689599-2023-0308, 252-546624-2022-0308, 262-542977-2022-0308, 262-689600-2023-0308, 264-547238-2022-0308
Award Period: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023
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. The City of Waltham, Massachusetts should have internal controls designed to ensure compliance with those provisions.
Condition: Internal controls were not in place to ensure suspension and debarment checks were being performed prior to entering into a contract.
Questioned costs: None.
Context: For 1 instance of the 2 contracts tested, a suspension and debarment check was performed after the contract date.
Cause: Procedures were not in place to ensure all vendors are checked to ensure they are not suspended or debarred prior to entering into a contract with a vendor.
Effect: The auditor noted no instances of noncompliance with the provisions of procurement, suspension, and debarment; however, the lack of internal controls over these compliance requirements provides an opportunity for noncompliance.
Repeat Finding: No.
Recommendation: We recommend the review of controls to ensure an adequate review process is in place to ensure that suspension and debarment checks are performed prior to contracting with vendor.
Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.