Finding 519857 (2023-009)

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 84.425D and 84.425U Federal Program Name: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Name: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Pass-Through Identification Number: 2022 - 403619 - DPI - ESSERFII - 163 and 2022 - 403619 - DPI - ESSERFIII - 165 Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR 200.313(d)(1), property records must be maintained that include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the FAIN), who holds title, the acquisition date and cost of the property, percentage of Federal participation in the project costs for the Federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sale price of the property. Condition/Context: The District maintains a list of capitalized equipment in BusinessPlus using the Fixed Asset module. However, of the three pieces of equipment sampled, one was put into service in January 2023 but was not entered into BusinessPlus until the subsequent fiscal year. Additionally, the other two pieces of equipment sampled did not contain all the required information in BusinessPlus. The following pieces of information were missing from the listing: • the source of funding for the property (including the FAIN), • who holds title, and • the sales price of the property, if disposed. This was not a statistically valid sample. Cause: The Department of Facilities and Maintenance services had staff changes, and it was not discovered until well after the new staff were in place that the former staff member had missed entering the record. Additionally, the District was unaware of the property records requirement as equipment is not frequently purchased with federal funds. Effect: When the funding source for fixed assets is not tracked, if an asset is disposed of via a sale, the federal program may not receive the proceeds of the sale at the appropriate proportional rate. Questioned Costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend that the District enter fixed assets into BusinessPlus in a timely manner and record all the information required by the Uniform Guidance. Views of Responsible Officials: Management concurs with the finding.