Finding 579466 (2022-002)

FA 2022-002 Improve Controls over Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Compliance Requirement: Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: 10.553 – School Breakfast Program 10.555 – National School Lunch Program Federal Award Number: 225GA324N1199 (Year: 2022) Questioned Costs: $474.00 Description: A review of expenditures charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster revealed that the School District’s internal control procedures were not operating appropriately to ensure that the School District’s procurement procedures were followed. Background: The Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) is comprised of various programs that are intended to assist states in administering and overseeing food service program operators that provide healthful, nutritious meals to eligible children in public and non-profit private schools, residential childcare institutions, and summer programs. This Cluster of programs also fosters healthy eating habits in children by providing fresh fruits and fresh vegetables to children attending elementary and secondary schools and encourages the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities. CNC funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) and overseeing the various CNC programs. CNC funds totaling $2,764,279.02 were expended and reported on the Monroe County Board of Education’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls. Additionally, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 – General Procurement Standards state in part that “(a) the non-Federal entity must use its own documented procurement procedures which reflect applicable State, local, and tribal laws and regulations and… (b) non-Federal entities must maintain oversight to ensure that contractors perform in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of their contracts or purchase orders.” In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.320 – Methods of Procurement to Be Followed provide guidance for procurement through small purchase procedures and state “If small purchase procedures are used, price or rate quotations must be obtained from an adequate number of qualified sources.” Furthermore, Title 2 CFR Section 180.300 states in part that the non-Federal entity must “verify that the entity with whom you intend to do business is not excluded or disqualified. You can do this by: (a) Checking System for Awards Management (SAM) exclusions; or (b) Collecting a certification from the entity; or (c) Adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with the entity.” Condition: A sample of 40 procurement transactions was randomly selected for testing using a non-statistical sampling approach. These expenditures were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented, and applicable procurement compliance requirements were met. The following deficiencies were noted:  The appropriate procurement method was not used for the dollar amount and conditions associated with one procurement transaction.  The School District could not provide evidence that an adequate number of rate or price quotations was obtained from qualified sources for one small purchase expenditure reviewed. In addition, a sample of 40 covered transactions was randomly selected for testing using a nonstatistical sampling approach. These transactions were reviewed to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and if suspension and debarment compliance requirements were met. The following exception was noted:  For two expenditures, documentation could not be provided to support the entity’s verification that the vendor was not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. Questioned Costs: Upon testing a sample of $13,307.47 in procurement transactions, known questioned costs of $474.00 were identified for expenditures that did not follow the School District’s procurement procedures. Using the total population of $1,363,942.86 in procurement transactions, we project the likely questioned costs to be approximately $48,623.00. Cause: The School District did not follow its policies and procedures that govern the procurement process for federal programs. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance and Georgia Department of Education guidance. Failure to appropriately implement procedures to address procurement compliance requirements could result in the expenditure of federal funds with unqualified vendors and the return of grant funds associated with these unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should evaluate and improve internal control procedures to ensure that required procurement methods are properly identified and followed. Furthermore, management should develop a monitoring process to ensure that these procedures are operating appropriately. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.