Finding Text
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Equipment Management Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education_Grants to States, Special Education_Preschool Grants AL Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY21, FY22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Equipment and Real Property Management Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.313 states in part: ". . . (b) . . . Other non-Federal entities must follow paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section. (d) Management requirements. Procedures for managing equipment (including replacement equipment), whether acquired in whole or in part under a Federal award, until disposition takes place will, as a minimum, meet the following requirements: (1) Property records must be maintained that include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the FAIN), who holds title, the acquisition date, and cost of the property, percentage of Federal participation in the project costs for the Federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sale price of the property. . . ." Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the equipment requirements of the Equipment and Real Property Management compliance requirement. Cause: The School Corporation?s management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the equipment requirements. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the equipment requirements could have resulted in the loss of federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation is a member of a joint service cooperative (Cooperative). The Cooperative operated the special education programs on behalf of the School Corporation and managed the special education grant funds. Because the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education and the School Corporation, the School Corporation was ultimately responsible for compliance with the grant agreement and the Equipment and Real Property Management compliance requirement. During fiscal year 2021, the School Corporation paid membership fees to the Cooperative out of federal Special Education funds. These membership fees made up approximately 48% of the total federal expenditures reimbursed during fiscal year 2021. The Cooperative accounted for state, local, and federal funds in a single fund. The fund did not separately account for each of the funding sources. This made it indeterminable whether equipment purchases were made by the Cooperative with federal funds, or to identify equipment expenditures by federal program, award number, or years. Therefore, we could not test compliance for approximately 48% of the expenditures. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that equipment purchased with grant funds was properly recorded and maintained in the School Corporation's equipment records. The Cooperative also did not maintain records for the disposition of equipment purchased with federal grant funds. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues, which occurred specifically during fiscal year 2021. No reportable findings were noted for fiscal year 2022. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-003. Recommendation: It was recommended that the School Corporation?s management establish effective internal controls to ensure compliance and comply with the Equipment and Real Property Management compliance requirement. As recommended, management implemented internal control procedures for the year ended June 30, 2022. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has implemented their corrective action plan.