Finding Text
2023-001 - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
Federal Program Information:
Department of Education -
Passed through the Maine Department of Education:
ALN: - 84.425 - Education Stabilization Fund
ALN: - 84.010 - Title I - Grants to Local Educational Agencies
Criteria: The following CFR(s) apply to this finding: 2 CFR 200.303, 2 CFR 200.430(i)
Condition: During audit procedures, it was identified that the school department does not
follow a consistent, documented method to ensure employees were paid the proper amount
ensuring that only allowable costs are being charged to the program.
Cause: The school department does not have the necessary internal controls over
compliance.
Effect: The school department is at an increased risk for unallowable cost to be charged to
the program.
Identification of Questioned Costs: None identified.
Context: The population for the test consisted of transactions of 121 payroll expenditures.
79 payroll samples were selected using the haphazard method. Of the 79 samples, we
identified issues with 17 payroll charges. One employee contract accounted for 11 of those
charges. The contract did not accurately describe the employee’s classification. The
remaining 6 of the 17 payroll charges had insufficient documentation to support the amount
paid. This is not a statistically valid sample.
Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: It is recommended that the school department develop and implement
internal policies and procedures to ensure that sufficient documentation to support the
charge and to ensure that only allowable costs are charged to the program.
Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan: Please see the Corrective
Action Plan issued by Town of Millinocket School Department.