Finding Text
Assistance Listing Number and Program: 21.027 COVID-19 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury
Pass-Through Entity and Award Number: Wisconsin Public Service Commission / 5-BF-2022
Criteria: Non-federal entities in receipt of federal funds must comply with the requirements of 2 CFR 200.303(a), which requires an entity to establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award to ensure compliance with Federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Recipients of COVID-19 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund payments from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) must also comply with the reporting requirements described in the terms and conditions of the PSC agreement.
Condition: The Reedsburg Utility Commission did not have a process to review and approve the quarterly progress reports prior to submission to the PSC by someone other than the preparer. Additionally, estimates were used to report costs incurred in those quarterly reports. We tested four quarterly reports submitted for the Iowa County and Witwen projects. Our sample was not statistically valid.
Cause: The Reedsburg Utility Commission did not have a control process in place to ensure that the reports were being reviewed by someone other than the preparer prior to submission to the PSC and that actual costs were used in the reports.
Effect: Reports could contain errors due to estimation and lack of review.
Questioned Costs: None reported.
Recommendation: The Utility Commission should review its internal control procedures to ensure there are proper review and approval processes over completeness and accuracy of reports in place before submissions to state agencies are completed. Actual amounts supported by the financial software should be used in those reports.
Management's Response: The Utility Commission General Manager or Communications System Supervisor will review the quarterly progress reports prepared by someone else. Section II of the Project Status Report instructions states “Answer each question to the best of your ability.” The work orders do not include all costs related to labor benefits and taxes, and also the electronics and customer premise equipment associated with the projects. These costs are calculated and added in when the project is completed and is being closed out. Estimating these items for the quarterly Project Status Report is providing the project costs spent through the respective quarter to the best of our ability due to the limitations of the work order reporting process.