Finding 525618 (2024-001)

- Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-03-04

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Town of Dudley misreported zero obligations and expenditures in its Project and Expenditure Report, despite having fully utilized $3,519,030.12 in funds.
  • Impacted Requirements: Annual reporting criteria mandate accurate financial data, including total obligations and expenditures, which were not met.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure the report preparer accurately reflects total budgeted, obligated, and expended amounts in future submissions, with the next report due in April 2025.

Finding Text

inding 2024-001 Other Matter – U.S. Department of Treasury – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds – (Federal Assistance Listing Number 21.027) – Reporting Criteria: Recipients of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are required to file Project and Expenditure Reports on a regular, recurring basis. For local governments that are in the tier which the Town of Dudley is in, the reporting is required annually as of the end of March each year. The Project and Expenditure Reports require information to be reported on financial data, projects funded, expenditures, and contracts and subawards over $50,000, and other information. The financial data and expenditures reported should reflect the financial activity and expenditures on the municipal general ledger. Condition: The Town of Dudley did submit a Project and Expenditure Report as of March 2024. The Town used all of the funds awarded of $3,519,030.12 as Revenue Loss, as allowed in the requirements of the program. The report has a detailed narrative of how the Revenue Loss funds were applied to various budget line items in Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023. However, on the last page of the report, the Town reported zero dollars in obligations and zero dollars in expenditures as of March 2024, when the amount of $3,519,030.12 should have been reported as total obligations, total expenditures, and total budget. This is a repeat of prior year findings 2022-001 and 2023-001. Cause: This condition may have been a result of an oversight error by the preparer of the report. Effect: The amount of total obligations and the amount of total expenditures on the Project and Expenditure Report is misstated. Failure to report the correct amount of expenditures may result in a request by the Federal government to return the funds when they were all expended. Questioned Costs: None. Recommendation: The person preparing the Project and Expenditure Report should report the total amount as budgeted, obligated, and expended in the Overview section on the last page on the next annual Project and Expenditure Report, which is due in April, 2025. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: In preparing and submitting the 2022 and 2023 Project and Expenditure Reports, the preparer was not aware that the town was required to obligate and report the obligations to the Treasury though a two-step process which included entering specific projects in the Treasury reporting portal. 12 TOWN OF DUDLEY, MASSACHUSETTS SUMMARY SCHEDULE OF PRIOR AUDIT FINDINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2024 Finding 2023-001 Non-Compliance/Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance – U.S. Department o

Corrective Action Plan

When the reporting portal opens in late March 2025 for Annual Reports due by April 30, 2025 (for the April 1, 2024-March 31, 2025 reporting period), the Town Accountant will enter a project under expenditure category 6.1 (Revenue Replacement) that will include the $3,519,030.12 that was obligated and expended by Dudley for revenue replacement. On the overview section of the 2024 report the town will report the full $3,519,030.12 as obligated and expensed.

Categories

Internal Control / Segregation of Duties Subrecipient Monitoring Reporting Significant Deficiency

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
66.468 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund $102,000
97.083 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (safer) $95,219
16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program $44,635
20.600 State and Community Highway Safety $16,430
14.228 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $11,933
97.042 Emergency Management Performance Grants $3,500
16.607 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program $932
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $0