Finding 565337 (2024-001)

Cash Management Federal Department – U.S. Department of Justice Pass-through Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 15JOVW-21-GG-00543-STOP and 2021 15JOVW-22-GG-00422-STOP and 2022 Violence Against Women Formula Grants, Federal Assistance Listing #16.588 County Department – State’s Attorney Office Finding 2024 – 001 CRITERIA 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, Subpart D - Post Federal Award Requirements Standards for Financial and Program Management, Section 200.305 Federal Payment (b)(3) Payments for recipients and subrecipients other than States requires that, “Reimbursement is preferred when the requirements in paragraph (b) cannot be met, when the Federal agency or pass-through entity sets a specific condition per Section 200.208, when requested by the recipient or subrecipient, when a Federal award is for construction, or when a significant portion of the construction project is accomplished through private market financing or Federal loans and the Federal award constitutes a minor portion of the project. When the reimbursement method is used, the Federal agency or pass-through entity must make payment within 30 calendar days after receipt of the payment request unless the Federal agency or pass-through entity reasonably believes the request to be improper.” CONDITION During the current audit period, the Cook County State’s Attorney Office (SAO) did not adequately comply with its cash management requirements in accordance with federal regulations. CAUSE Based on discussions with management, a portion of the late payments resulted from the SAO’s Program Managers being unable to provide sufficient documentation demonstrating that the delays were due to late invoice submissions by subrecipients. As a result, the Auditor could not verify whether the non-compliance was attributable to subrecipient actions. The remaining delays were due to weaknesses in the payment processing system, which relied heavily on email communications between involved parties. These emails, initiated by the Accounts Payable Processor, were not acted upon in a timely manner, resulting in payments being processed well over the thirty (30) days after initial submission. EFFECT The failure to pay each subrecipient for allowable costs within 30 days after receiving the subrecipient’s billing or payment request is a violation of federal regulations. This could impact the subrecipient’s ability to adequately perform its programmatic responsibilities under the program. QUESTIONED COSTS None. CONTEXT During our test of 29 subrecipients’ expenditures, we noted 17 instances where payments to the subrecipients’ were not made within 30 days after receipt of the subrecipient’s payment request. The payments were submitted late, ranging from 2 to 313 days late. IDENTIFICATION OF REPEATED FINDINGS None. RECOMMENDATION We recommend that SAO develop and implement procedures to ensure payments to subrecipients are made within 30 days after receipt of the subrecipients billing or payment request, as required. VIEWS OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS AND PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTIONS The County agrees with the finding and recommendation. The County’s corrective action plan is on page 38.