Finding 499966 (2023-002)

Criteria or Specific Requirement: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220. All non-procurement transactions entered into by a passthrough entity (i.e., subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions, unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR section 180.215. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-Federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at https://governmentcontractregistration.com/sam-registration-and-renewal/, (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity (2 CFR section 180.300). Condition: We noted that the Town does have policies and procedures in place for compliance with suspension and debarment requirements; however, we noted that the two vendors selected for testing had not been checked to verify they were not suspended or debarred. Questioned Costs: None. Context: The Town does have a policy and procedure to check a vendor’s suspension and debarment status either by checking the active record on SAM.gov, collecting a certification from the proposed entity, and/or adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity. The Town was not able to provide verification of the suspension and debarment status through review of SAM.gov, providing a certification from the vendor, or through a clause or condition within the signed contract. We did verify these vendors were not currently suspended or debarred through review of SAM.gov. Cause: The Town did not verify either of the two vendors tested were in compliance with suspension and debarment requirements. Effect: The Town could make a payment to a vendor or subrecipient who is suspended and/or debarred from participating in federal programs. Repeat Finding: Yes, finding 2022-003. Recommendation: The Town should update all contracts to include a suspension and debarment paragraph to verify status with every renewal. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.