Finding Text
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - ALN 21.027, COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF)
Federal Award Identification Number and Year - FAIN not available, 2022
Pass-through Entity - N/A - Direct funded
Finding Type - Material weakness
Repeat Finding - No
Criteria - Per 2 CFR 200.501(h), for procuremnt transactions in which the contractor is made responsible for meeting program requirements, the auditee must ensure those requirements are met, including by clearly stating the contractor's responsibilities within the contract and reviewing the contractor's records to determine compliance.
Per the Department of Treasury’s 2022 Final Rule, recipients of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds who report expenditures under the revenue loss category are required to follow their internal policies related to incurring expenditures and procuring goods and services. The Township’s procurement policy requires ensuring contractors are not suspended or debarred prior to entering into a contract that is funded with federal awards.
Condition - The Township engaged a contractor to perform procurement activities funded by the revenue loss component of their Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds award and did not have controls in place to ensure that the contractor was following the Township's procurement policy related to, specifically checking and ensuring vendors were not suspension and debarred prior to the Township entering into the agreements with the contractors.
Questioned Costs - None
If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - Not Applicable
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - Not Applicable
Context - As the Township applied contractor expenses to the revenue loss category of CSLFRF, the Township is required to have a system of internal controls to ensure the contractor hired to perform procurement activities followed their Township’s policy regarding suspension and debarment requirements.
Cause and Effect - The Township hired a contractor to perform procurement and suspension and debarement activities, however, did not have controls in place to monitor that activity and ensure procurement transactions recommended by the contractors for the project were entered into with vendors that were not suspended or debared. This lack of control did not result in any unallowable costs to the federal program.
Recommendation - In order to properly monitor compliance passed through the contractor, we recommend that the Township incorporates controls for obtaining supporting documentation of the suspension and debarment check being performed by the contractor.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - As part of the procurement process, the Township will require all contractors to provide documentation verifying that neither they nor their subcontractors are suspended or debarred from conducting business with federal agencies. This verification will be conducted through the federal System for Award Management (SAM.gov). To ensure compliance, procurement files will include printed or electronically saved screenshots from SAM.gov confirming the status of each contractor and subcontractor at the time of the contract award.