Crescent School District No. 313 September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2022 2022-001 The District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with wage rate requirements. Assistance Listing Number and Title: 84.425, COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund Federal Grantor Name: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award/Contract Number: N/A Pass-through Entity Name: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Pass-through Award/Contract Number: 84.425D-0120585 84.425U-0138156 84.425U-0137180 Known Questioned Cost Amount: $0 Background The objectives of the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) program are to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fiscal year 2022, the District spent $513,710 of its ESF awards. This included $172,885 in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II) subprogram (84.425D), and $340,825 in the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER/ESSER III) subprogram (84.425U). Federal regulations require recipients to establish and maintain internal controls that ensure compliance with program requirements. These controls include understanding grant requirements and monitoring the effectiveness of established controls. Under federal wage rate requirements, also known as the Davis-Bacon Act, contractors and subcontractors that work on projects financed with more than $2,000 of federal money must pay laborers and mechanics wage rates that the U.S. Department of Labor considers being similar to what local workers have been paid for similar projects. For construction contracts subject to these wage rate requirements, the District must include a provision that the contractor and subcontractor comply with those requirements and the Department of Labor?s regulations. This includes a requirement for the contractor and its subcontractors to submit to the District weekly, for each week in which any contract work is performed, certified payroll reports. These reports must include a copy of the payroll and a signed statement of compliance. Description of Condition The District hired two contractors to update the water heating system in locker rooms and install a new roof on a building. During the 2021-22 school year, the District paid $137,641 from its ESSER III award for work the contractors performed on these projects. Our audit found the District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal prevailing wage rate requirements. Specifically, the District did not: ? Include the required prevailing wage rate clauses in the contracts with two contractors ? Collect weekly certified payroll reports from the contractors to confirm they paid laborers proper prevailing wages We consider these deficiencies in internal controls to be a material weakness, which led to material noncompliance. The issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. Cause of Condition Staff did not know the District needed to include the federal prevailing wage language in its contracts for all projects receiving federal funding, and they relied on copying the state prevailing wage from past contracts. Additionally, staff did not know the District needed to obtain certified weekly payroll reports from contractors. Effect of Condition Without adequate internal controls that ensure it includes the prevailing wage rate clauses in its contracts and collects all weekly certified payroll reports, the District cannot demonstrate it complied with federal wage rate requirements. The District could also be liable for paying any additional wages if the contractor did not pay prevailing wage rates to laborers working on the contracts. During the audit period, the District was required to collect certified payroll reports from contractors on two projects. We tested the two contractors and found the District should have obtained two weekly certified payroll reports, but did not collect any during the audit period. Since the contractors had submitted all required payroll reports for the projects to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, the District subsequently collected them during our audit. Recommendation We recommend the District develop internal controls that ensure compliance with federal wage rate requirements. This should include inserting the correct prevailing wage clauses into contracts and implementing effective monitoring processes to collect and review all weekly certified payroll reports timely from contractors. District?s Response The following corrective action has been applied to the finding below: Our audit found the District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal prevailing wage rate requirements. Specifically, the District did not: ? Include the required prevailing wage rate clauses in the contracts with two contractors ? The Crescent School District contract used for all public works will be updated with the appropriate language. The school is utilizing information from SAO, OSPI, WASBO, and Business Manager peers to compile a contract that complies with state and federal requirements. ? Collect weekly certified payroll reports from the contractors to confirm they paid laborers proper prevailing wages ? Crescent School District will use LNI Contractor Awards Portal for tracking all public works projects. The portal will help track all necessary documents for the project. A checklist provided by OSPI will be referenced for each project and calendar reminders will be set to follow up on weekly prevailing wage for projects as needed. In addition, more training for public works will be strongly encouraged for the Business Office. Auditor?s Remarks We thank the District for its cooperation throughout the audit and the steps it is taking to address these concerns. We will review the status of the District?s corrective action during our next audit. Applicable Laws and Regulations 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 516, Audit findings, establishes reporting requirements for audit findings. Title 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 303, Internal controls, describes the requirements for auditees to maintain internal controls over federal programs and comply with federal program requirements. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants defines significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards, section 935, Compliance Audits, paragraph 11. Title 29 CFR, Section 3.3 ? Weekly statement with respect to payment of wages, and Section 3.4 ? Submission of weekly statements and the preservation and inspection of weekly payroll records, establish requirements for contractor or subcontractor submission of weekly certified payroll reports. Title 29 CFR, Section 5.5 ? Contract provisions and related matters establishes the requirements for the contracting officer to insert in full in any contract in excess of $2,000 which is entered into for the actual construction, alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating, of a public building or public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part with federal funds the clauses listed, which includes but is not limited to the minimum wages to be paid and payrolls and basic records to be maintained (submission of weekly certified payrolls).