Finding 42699 (2022-002)

RECONCILIATION, REVIEW, AND REPORTING United States Department of Homeland Security Passed through the Louisiana Governor?s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Disaster Grants ? Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) (Federal Assistance No. 97.036 ? Grant No. 4611-DR-LA) Criteria: In accordance with regulations set forth in the Louisiana Administrative Plan for Public Assistance, quarterly reports are required to be submitted subgrantees to the Louisiana Governor?s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) by the fifteenth day of the month following the end of a calendar quarter. Additionally, internal controls should be designed to ensure proper reconciliation and review of all reimbursement requests to the accounting records to prevent or detect misstatements or inappropriate request of reimbursement from federal funds. Condition: The City did not submit two of its three required quarterly report submission in a timely manner. The submission for April 2022 through June 2022 was submitted approximately ten months late. The submission for October 2022 through December 2022 was submitted sixteen days late. Additionally, we identified a deficiency in the design of controls over the reimbursement request reconciliation function as well as the review of reimbursement request function. Cause: The City does not have policies and procedures in place to ensure compliance with federal reporting requirements regarding the quarterly reports due to GOHSEP. Additionally, the City does not have policies and procedures in place to ensure that reimbursement requests are reconciled to the accounting records or reviewed by someone other than the preparer of the reimbursement request. Questioned Costs: N/A Effect: The City failed to submit timely quarterly reports electronically to GOHSEP. Errors related to the reimbursement of grant expenses could result in material misstatements and not be detected by the internal controls of the City. Recommendation: The City should implement policies and procedures that ensure the proper procedures are followed to ensure compliance with federal reporting requirements. Additionally, proper internal controls should be established that ensure proper reconciliations and reviews of grant reimbursement requests are performed and properly accounted for in the financial records. Identification of a repeat finding: This is a new finding in the current year. View of Responsible Official: Management concurs with the finding.