FAC Explorer

Finding 50461 (2022-004)

Significant Deficiency Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-09-28
Audit: 45206
Organization: City of West Allis (WI)
Auditor: Cliftonlarsonallen LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The City did not keep proper documentation for annual Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspections, leading to noncompliance.
  • Impacted Requirements: Annual inspections and quality control reinspections as per 24 CFR sections 982.158(d) and 982.405(b) were not adequately documented.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The City should review and improve its internal control systems to prevent future noncompliance issues.

Finding Text

2022 ? 004: Housing Quality (HQS) Standards Inspection Annual Inspections Federal Agency: Housing Choice Voucher Program Federal Program Name: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Assistance Listing Number: 14.871 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: WI201VO2022 Award Period: January 1, 2022 ? December 31, 2022 Type of Finding: ? Internal Control, Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance ? Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: The PHA must inspect the unit leased to a family at least annually to determine if the unit meets Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and the PHA must conduct quality control reinspections. The PHA must prepare a unit inspection report (24 CFR sections 982.158(d) and 982.405(b)). Condition: During our testing, we noted the City failed to maintain documentation of compliance with the requirements of the annual HQS inspection as stated in the criteria section of this finding. Questioned Costs: Known - None; Likely - Undeterminable Context: From a sample of sixty (60) program participant files selected for testing, three (3) files failed to maintain documentation of compliance with the requirements of annual HQS inspection reinspection requirements as stated in the criteria section of this finding. The sample size was based on guidance from chapter 11 of the AICPA Audit Guide, Government Auditing Standards and Single Audits. Cause: The City's system of internal controls included in the policies and procedures failed to identify the noncompliance as described in the condition section of this finding. Effect: The failure of the internal controls has resulted in noncompliance with the requirements of the (24 CFR sections 982.158(d) and 982.405(b)) related to the annual HQS inspection. Repeat Finding: Yes; 2021-005 Recommendation: We recommend that the City review its system of internal control related to the policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of noncompliance with the stated criteria. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Housing Choice Voucher Program ? Assistance Listing No. 14.871 Recommendation: We recommend that the City review its system of internal control related to the policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of noncompliance with the requirements of the annual HQS inspection. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: As mentioned previously, the PHA is currently finalizing a contract with a 3rd party contractor to perform the required HQS inspections. They anticipate that outsourcing the inspection work will lessen the workload on PHA staff to allow for program staff to focus their efforts on improving overall program compliance, including HQS inspection procedures. As the contract arrangement is rolled out staff will review procedures between inspectors and PHA staff to ensure proper communication and clear procedures are in place to ensure all required inspections are completed. The Housing Coordinator or other PHA staff should review summary reports of renewals processed each month and compare them to inspections processed each month to ensure all necessary inspections are completed. PHA Supervisory Staff have also requested more detailed information on the audit results to help them further analyze the specific cases that did not have a documented or completed annual inspection. This will help supervisory staff conduct a more thorough review and consider additional procedural changes. Additionally, the Finance Department suggests the PHA engage its software vendor or a peer agency to review functionality in the software to determine whether additional features could be employed in the software to prevent a HAP payment on a unit with an incomplete inspection, for example. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Steve Schaer Planned completion date for corrective action plan: 3/31/2024

Categories

HUD Housing Programs Significant Deficiency Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 50458 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50459 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50460 2022-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 50462 2022-005
    Material Weakness
  • 50463 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50464 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50465 2022-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 50466 2022-004
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 50467 2022-005
    Material Weakness
  • 626900 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 626901 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 626902 2022-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 626903 2022-004
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 626904 2022-005
    Material Weakness
  • 626905 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 626906 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 626907 2022-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 626908 2022-004
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 626909 2022-005
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $4.35M
95.001 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program $2.62M
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $1.13M
14.871 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers $419,804
16.754 Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program $357,573
16.838 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program $207,990
14.228 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $166,021
16.922 Equitable Sharing Program $114,995
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $65,066
93.268 Immunization Cooperative Agreements $50,247
10.561 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $41,956
10.557 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $35,255
14.239 Home Investment Partnerships Program $21,398
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $19,563
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $18,921
93.991 Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant $17,469
93.354 Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response $14,345
16.607 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program $12,886
20.616 National Priority Safety Programs $11,901
16.710 Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants $9,641
93.994 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States $8,815
16.034 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program $8,128
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $7,534
10.528 Usda Wic Telehealth Evaluation Collaborative (b) $5,499
66.818 Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup Cooperative Agreements $4,849
16.001 Law Enforcement Assistance_narcotics and Dangerous Drugs_laboratory Analysis $2,461
20.600 State and Community Highway Safety $1,324
93.069 Public Health Emergency Preparedness $109
14.U01 Section 8 Fss Escrow Forfeiture Account $74
93.103 Food and Drug Administration_research $-129