Finding 61394 (2022-001)

Finding 2022-001: Cash Management U.S. Department of Education- COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund (ALN 84.425) Statement of Condition: The College drew down all Higher Educational Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF) 1 and 2 money and maintained an excess cash balance (funds drew down were greater than expenditures claimed on previous SEFAs). In the current year the College drew down the correct amount of HEERF money. Criteria: Per 48 CFR section 53.216.7(b) and the Certification Agreements for the Educational Stabilization Fund, any cash drawn down should occur after or shortly before the expenditure is paid. For student aid related payments, the funds drawn down should be disbursed within 15 calendar days to students and for the institutional aid portion the funds should be disbursed within 3 calendar days from the drawn down date in the G5 system. Cause: The College drew down all HEERF money made available to them to expend and only began to draw down money as needed during fiscal year 2022. All money withdrawn in previous years were not expended in full before additional draws were made. Effect of the Condition: The College has drawn down monies in excess of expenditures in the amount of $421,437. Recommendation: We recommend that the College review their excess cash and utilize that cash before drawing additional funds from the HEERF funding to ensure that there is not any additional excess cash on hand. In addition, we recommend that the College implements a procedures or additional procedure to ensure that cash draw downs only occur shortly before or after eligible expenses are paid. Repeat Finding: This is not considered a repeat finding. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the Finding. Management will put a process in place to review and monitor changes in HEERF reporting requirements. As part of this revised process, all data will be subject to final review prior to submission of any HEERF information to ensure accuracy and consistency.