FAC Explorer

Finding 404799 (2023-004)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-07-01
Audit: 311187
Organization: Baltimore County, Maryland (MD)
Auditor: Cliftonlarsonallen LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The County failed to submit all required quarterly reports on time and could not verify key information in some reports.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with Treasury's reporting guidelines and internal control standards was not met, affecting the management of federal funds.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Management should revise policies to ensure proper documentation is maintained and establish procedures for timely report submissions.

Finding Text

Reference Number: 2023-004 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19-Emergency Rental Assistance Assistance Listing Number: 21.023 Award Number and Year: 2021 Compliance Requirement: Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or Specific Requirement: Compliance: Quarterly reports are required to be submitted in accordance with Treasury guidance beginning in the first quarter of 2021 through September of 2022 for ERA1 and through September of 2025 for ERA 2. The quarterly reports are required to be submitted by the 15th of the following month. Control – Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a non-Federal entity must: 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 comply with the 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). Condition: For 2 of the 5 reports tested, we were unable to verity key line items were submitted. Also, 1 of the 5 quarterly reports tested were not submitted timely. Cause: The County did not have adequate controls to ensure supporting documentation was retained for all reports submitted. Also, the County did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure the timeliness of the submissions. Effect: The County was not in compliance with the programs reporting. Questioned Costs: None Recommendation: We recommend that management review their policies and make revisions where necessary to ensure that documentation is maintained to support amounts reported by the County in their quarterly grant reporting. We also recommend that management review their policies and procedures and make changes necessary to ensure reports are filed timely. Views of Responsible Officials: The County agrees with this finding. See separate Correction Action Plan related to this finding.

Corrective Action Plan

COVID-19 – Emergency Rental Assistance – Assistance Listing No. 21.023 Recommendation: We recommend that management review their policies and make revisions where necessary to ensure that documentation is maintained to support amounts reported by the County in their quarterly grant reporting. We also recommend that management review their policies and procedures and make changes necessary to ensure reports are filed timely. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: The one instance when the County submitted its quarterly report after the due date occurred due to a technical problem with submission. The Treasury data system would not accept the County’s report on the due date. The County sent Treasury an email alerting them to the problem as soon as it was determined that the County was unable to submit. Once the issue was resolved, the County submitted a few days later with no adverse impact to the County or its use of federal ERA funding. As per the concern that audit staff could not verify key line items in the submitted quarterly report, the County completed all required line items in the reports, however, the Treasury report downloads with multiple blank items in report cells. The County cannot control this deficiency in the Treasury downloads. If any submitted report were incomplete, Treasury would have returned the incomplete report to a local jurisdiction for missing elements. No referenced reports were returned to the County for completion, thereby demonstrating that all reports were complete at the time of submission. The problem relates solely to the downloaded report from the Treasury website. Neither the County nor the audit staff were able to determine a workaround for the incomplete Treasury report downloads. Action taken in response to finding: No additional action is needed because the one late quarterly reporting problem was resolved and the report was uploaded as soon as the technical glitch was resolved. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Colleen Mahoney Planned completion date for corrective action plan: Already Completed

Categories

Questioned Costs Reporting Significant Deficiency Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 404789 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404790 2023-010
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404791 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404792 2023-010
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404793 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404794 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404795 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404796 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404797 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404798 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404800 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404801 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404802 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency
  • 404803 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981231 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981232 2023-010
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981233 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981234 2023-010
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981235 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981236 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981237 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981238 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981239 2023-008
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981240 2023-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981241 2023-004
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981242 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981243 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981244 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency
  • 981245 2023-007
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
14.871 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers $85.22M
66.468 Capitalization Grants for Drinking Water State Revolving Funds $31.66M
14.239 Home Investment Partnerships Program $31.18M
21.023 Emergency Rental Assistance Program $11.32M
21.019 Coronavirus Relief Fund $4.42M
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $2.37M
17.259 Wia Youth Activities $1.84M
14.241 Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids $1.69M
97.083 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (safer) $1.51M
93.568 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance $1.41M
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $1.27M
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $1.23M
17.258 Wia Adult Program $1.20M
14.879 Mainstream Vouchers $1.16M
93.354 Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response $1.10M
14.267 Continuum of Care Program $897,232
17.278 Wia Dislocated Worker Formula Grants $888,495
93.053 Nutrition Services Incentive Program $876,921
14.999 N/a $840,128
93.658 Foster Care_title IV-E $813,536
17.235 Senior Community Service Employment Program $809,141
10.551 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $672,098
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $644,397
93.994 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States $621,974
93.977 Preventive Health Services_sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Grants $572,239
93.069 Public Health Emergency Preparedness $556,248
93.870 Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant $530,849
21.016 Equitable Sharing $459,966
93.045 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iii, Part C_nutrition Services $450,829
93.917 Hiv Care Formula Grants $396,836
97.042 Emergency Management Performance Grants $355,324
97.067 Homeland Security Grant Program $347,646
93.116 Project Grants and Cooperative Agreements for Tuberculosis Control Programs $332,495
93.958 Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services $321,310
16.606 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program $320,345
16.833 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative $310,700
93.268 Immunization Cooperative Agreements $305,772
14.896 Family Self-Sufficiency Program $268,796
93.767 Children's Health Insurance Program $240,074
14.905 Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program $228,775
14.231 Emergency Solutions Grant Program $227,232
93.914 Hiv Emergency Relief Project Grants $216,925
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance $214,123
93.959 Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse $213,472
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $185,238
20.509 Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program $175,291
14.235 Supportive Housing Program $168,914
93.898 Cancer Prevention and Control Programs for State, Territorial and Tribal Organizations $165,010
16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program $151,947
16.922 Equitable Sharing Program $139,377
16.588 Violence Against Women Formula Grants $123,709
17.270 Reintegration of Ex-Offenders $123,402
94.002 Retired and Senior Volunteer Program $121,053
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $120,048
10.557 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $118,849
93.940 Hiv Prevention Activities_health Department Based $112,806
93.590 Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Grants $106,228
93.217 Family Planning_services $103,158
93.788 Opioid Str $101,818
93.778 Medical Assistance Program $95,576
93.324 State Health Insurance Assistance Program $93,684
20.703 Interagency Hazardous Materials Public Sector Training and Planning Grants $91,295
93.043 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iii, Part D_disease Prevention and Health Promotion Services $90,777
16.741 Dna Backlog Reduction Program $69,234
93.150 Projects for Assistance in Transition From Homelessness (path) $58,150
93.044 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iii, Part B_grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers $57,394
20.616 National Priority Safety Programs $56,889
93.048 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iv_and Title Ii_discretionary Projects $54,910
93.563 Child Support Enforcement $52,216
93.052 National Family Caregiver Support, Title Iii, Part E $46,978
84.181 Special Education-Grants for Infants and Families $45,622
93.391 Activities to Support State, Tribal, Local and Territorial (stlt) Health Department Response to Public Health Or Healthcare Crises $41,367
93.674 John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood $39,697
97.056 Port Security Grant Program $35,950
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $28,193
93.042 Special Programs for the Aging_title Vii, Chapter 2_long Term Care Ombudsman Services for Older Individuals $25,753
11.307 Economic Adjustment Assistance $14,152
15.904 Historic Preservation Fund Grants-in-Aid $13,000
20.218 National Motor Carrier Safety $12,625
16.710 Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants $10,513
93.421 Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health $10,155
93.318 Protecting and Improving Health Globally: Building and Strengthening Public Health Impact, Systems, Capacity and Security $10,139
93.103 Food and Drug Administration_research $8,156
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $2,422
16.000 N/a $2,356
20.507 Federal Transit_formula Grants $1,663
16.742 Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement Grant Program $411
20.600 State and Community Highway Safety $-158