Finding 404759 (2023-001)

GRANT REPORTING U.S. Department of Treasury ALN 21.027 – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Contract No. 23.saa.900.46 (2023) Passed through the Florida Department of State Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 requires non-federal entities to establish and maintain effective internal controls. Reports and reimbursement requests should be subject to independent review to verify completeness, validity and timeliness of submission. Condition: Review of quarterly reports was not documented by City officials before submittal by their third party consultant. Cause of condition: The City does not have a process in place to document their review of progress reports submitted to the Florida Department of State by their third party consultant. Potential effect of condition: Reports submitted to the Florida Department of State may be incomplete, include errors, or be submitted late. Perspective: The City utilized a third party consultant to assist in the management of this specific grant contract under this federal program. CRI noted the City did have documentation of review of grant reports prepared by the City for the other grant contract awarded to the City under this federal program. Questioned costs: None. Recommendation: The City should review and revise, as needed, its current control structure over grant reporting to ensure that all required reports are independently reviewed prior to being submitted to the grantor. This should include review of reports prepared by any third party consultants. Management’s Response: The City will update its control process to incorporate procedures to ensure that reviews of reports prepared by third party consultants are subject to independent review by City personnel prior to the reports being remitted to the grantor and that such reviews will be documented.