2022 ? 004 Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Federal Program Name: COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) COVID-19 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 93.323 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 1505-0271 - 2021 Pass-Through Agency: California Department of Public Health Pass-Through Number(s): COVID-19ELC29 and COVID-19ELC87 Award Period: May 26, 2021 - December 31, 2026 May 18, 2020 - November 17, 2022 and January 15, 2021 - July 31, 2023 Type of Finding: ? Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance ? Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: According to ? 200.303 Internal controls of 2 CFR Part 200, the nonfederal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. According to ? 200.318 General procurement standards of 2 CFR Part 200, the nonfederal entity must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurement. These records will include but are not necessarily limited to the following: Rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. According to ? 200.320 Methods of procurement to be followed of 2 CFR Part 200, when the value of the procurement for property or services under a federal financial assistance award exceeds the SAT, or a lower threshold established by a nonfederal entity, formal procurement methods are required. According to ? 180.300 of Subpart C - Responsibilities of Participants Regarding Transactions Doing Business With Other Persons of 2 CFR Part 180, when you enter into a covered transaction with another person at the next lower tier, you must verify that the person with whom you intend to do business is not excluded or disqualified. You do this by: (a) Checking SAM Exclusions; or (b) Collecting a certification from that person; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that person. Criteria or specific requirement (Continued): According to Section 3.4 Formal Solicitations of the County's Purchasing Policy, Purchases of goods and services with an estimated cost of $25,000 or more (including tax, installation, and freight), shall be made as the result of a Formal Solicitation process including but not limited to Invitations for Bids, Requests for Proposals, Requests for Qualifications, Requests for Information and any other formal solicitation method that can be completed within a timeframe that allows for the solicitation, evaluation and approval in accordance with this Section. Formal solicitations may be solicited through Purchasing?s web based system or as otherwise directed by the Purchasing Agent. According to Section 3.5 Exceptions to Competitive Solicitation of the County's Purchasing Policy, in certain circumstances competitive solicitations may not be the most cost-effective approach for procurement. The Board of Supervisors, County Executive, or Purchasing may waive requirements for competitive solicitations in accordance with the grounds permitted by law. Key exemption categories are identified in the Purchasing Policy. Exceptions are not intended to circumvent the competitive process and related County policies and does not eliminate the need to ensure purchases are competitively priced and the terms and conditions of the purchase are in the best interests of the County. A written determination of the basis for the exception to competitive solicitation and the reason for the selection of the particular source shall be included in Purchasing?s records. According to the County's suspension and debarment verification process, prior to entering into an applicable contract or subrecipient agreement, department will verify on SAM.gov if an entity is listed as suspended or debarred. Condition: The County did not follow federal procurement and suspension and debarment regulation nor its purchasing policy and suspension and debarment verification procedures. Questioned costs: Unknown Context: During our testing, we noted the following matters related to procurement and suspension and debarment. Assistance Listing Number 21.027 ? For one of five procurements, the written justification does not contain how the Department knows that there is only one source for the item/service nor the basis upon which the price/cost was determined to be fair and reasonable. Also, no evidence of approval of the sole source procurement in the procurement file. Context (Continued): Assistance Listing Number 21.027 (Continued) ? For three of five procurements, there is no written justification, documentary support, nor evidence of approval of the emergency procurement in the procurement file. ? For two of two procurements, the County did not maintain evidence of the suspension and debarment check before entering into the covered transaction nor evidence of the review and approval of the verification check. ? For one of five procurements, formal procurements are required. However, the County did not use a formal procurement method. Also, no amendment to revise original agreement terms for this contract which reads as a subrecipient relationship rather than a contractor relationship. Assistance Listing Number 93.323 ? For three of five procurements, there is no written justification, documentary support, nor evidence of approval of the sole source procurement in the procurement file. ? For one of five procurements, there is no written justification, documentary support, nor evidence of approval of the emergency procurement in the procurement file. ? For one of five procurements, formal procurements are required. However, the County did not use a formal procurement method rather the County used a personnel recruitment process led by a contracted recruiting firm. ? For five of five procurements, the County did not maintain evidence of the suspension and debarment check before entering into the covered transaction nor evidence of the review and approval of the verification check. Cause: Management oversight. Effect: The auditor noted instances of noncompliance. Noncompliance results in procurement transactions for the acquisition of property or services required under a federal award not conducted in a manner providing full and open competition and other general procurement standards, as applicable. Also, noncompliance results in procurement transactions with potentially suspended or debarred entities. Recommendation: We recommend the County design controls to ensure compliance with federal procurement and suspension and debarment regulation and its purchasing policy and suspension and debarment verification procedures. We recommend the County develop standard justification forms with approval of the noncompetitive procurement documented on the forms and the forms maintained in the procurement file. Also, we recommend the County update its purchasing policy to ensure clear, concise, and detailed suspension and debarment verification procedures. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement from responsible officials.