Finding 498154 (2023-004)

FINDING 2023-004 Subject: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of the Treasury Federal Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listings Number: 21.027 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): FY 2022 Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context Recipients are required to submit quarterly or annual Project and Expenditure (P&E) reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). The reporting periods, as well as the respective due dates, are based upon type of recipient and its population, as well as the recipient's allocation amount. Information to be reported includes projects funded, expenditures, and contracts for the appropriate reporting period. The County was classified as a county with a population below 250,000 residents that received an allocation of less than $10 million in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). As such, the initial P&E report, covering the period from March 3, 2021 to March 31, 2022, was required to be submitted to the Treasury by April 30, 2022. The subsequent annual reports are to cover one calendar year and must be submitted to the Treasury by April 30 each year. Upon inquiry of the County's policies and procedures related to the reporting requirements, the County stated that the County Auditor and a financial consultant prepared the P&E report based on reports from the County's financial system. The County Auditor then submitted the report. There was no evidence of an oversight or review process prior to submission. The County submitted the P&E report by April 30, 2023, as required; however, the report was not supported by the County's records. The annual report submitted in April 2023 did not include an expenditure of $64,999 as the County Auditor used the incorrect period of January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, to complete the report. The omitted expenditure was incurred on March 23, 2023. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period for the FY 2022 grant. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 be in compliance with 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). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 SHELBY COUNTY SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 31 CFR 35.4(c) states in part: "Reporting and requests for other information. During the period of performance, recipients shall provide to the Secretary periodic reports providing detailed accounting of the uses of funds, . . ." Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recover Funds Compliance and Reporting Guidance, page 10, states in part: ". . . 10. Reporting. All recipients of federal funds must complete financial, performance, and compliance reporting as required and outlined in Part 2 of this guidance. Expenditures may be reported on a cash or accrual basis, as long as the methodology is disclosed and consistently applied. Reporting must be consistent with the definition of expenditures pursuant to 2 CFR 200.1. Your organization should appropriately maintain accounting records for com-piling and reporting accurate, compliant financial data, in accordance with appropriate accounting standards and principles. . . ." Cause A proper system of internal controls which would include segregation of key functions was not designed by management of the County. The lack of review or approval process by someone other than the preparers allowed the error in the P&E report to go undetected. The error was a result of expenditures from the incorrect reporting period being used to complete the report. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance. As such, the P&E report submitted understated expenditures. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the County. In addition, not meeting the SLFRF reporting requirements increases the likelihood that the public will not have access to transparent and accurate information regarding expenditures of federal awards. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the County design and implement a proper system of internal controls, including policies and procedures to ensure that the County abstracts the correct reporting period, to provide the Treasury with complete and accurate information for the P&E reports. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.