Finding Text
Federal program information: Funding agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Title: Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Compliance Requirement Allowable Costs/Activities Award Period: July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 Condition: During our testwork of the Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Fund we noted that there were 250 employees that were paid a ?premium payment? by the County however these payments were paid with a vendor check as opposed to correctly processing the compensation through the payroll transaction cycle. Criteria: IRS Publication 15-A of the IRS states that government employers must withhold social security, Medicare taxes, state taxes and pay unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee Questioned Costs: None Cause: The County mistakenly paid out the premium payments for the pandemic relief to its employees by giving them a check instead of it being paid through payroll. Effect: The County is in violation of IRS Publication 15-A and did not include these premium payments as part of compensation which results in tax withholdings and employee classification to be incorrect. Auditor?s Recommendations: We recommend that the County always pay any premium or hazard pay through payroll and not ever pay the employees with a check so that the payroll taxes are correctly paid out. Agency Response: The County will always pay any premium or hazard pay through payroll and will not pay the employees with a check. It will be done through payroll to ensure that all payroll taxes are correctly paid out. Elsa Vigil, Interim Finance Director is responsible for this corrective action.