Finding 6387 (2023-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2023-12-22
Audit: 8295
Organization: Harris County Housing Authority (MD)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Agency failed to report loan balances on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for federal program 14.228, leading to noncompliance with federal regulations.
  • Impacted Requirements: This oversight violates 2 CFR Subpart D 200.302 (1), 200.303 (a), and 200.502 (b), which mandate accurate reporting of all federal awards and loan balances.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The Agency should review and update its SEFA preparation procedures to ensure accurate reporting of loan balances and compliance with Uniform Guidance.

Finding Text

Federal Agency: US Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Program Title: Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants ALN Number: 14.228 Award Periods: April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance also reported as Other Noncompliance Criteria or specific requirement: 2 CFR Subpart D 200.302 (1) and 200.303 (a) stipulates that the auditee must identify, in its accounts, all Federal awards received and expended and the Federal programs under which they were received. Federal programs and award identification shall include, as applicable, the ALN title and number, Federal award identification number and year, name of Federal agency, and name of the pass-through entity; establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the auditee is managing Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulation, 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 Controller General of the United States and the Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee on Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In addition, 2 CFR 200.502(b) states that since the Federal Government is at risk for loans until the debt is repaid, the following guidelines must be used to calculate the value of Federal awards expended under loan programs, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section: (1) Value of new loans made or received during the audit period; plus (2) Beginning of the audit period balance of loans from previous years for which the Federal Government imposes continuing compliance requirements; plus (3) Any interest subsidy, cash, or administrative cost allowance received. Condition: The Authority’s schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) did not report loan balances on the SEFA as required by Uniform Guidance for federal program 14.228. Questioned costs: Not able to determine. Context: The Agency did not report loan balances on the SEFA. Cause: The Agency was not aware of the requirements to include loan balances on the SEFA. Effect: The SEFA omitted loan balances for federal program 14.228. Therefore, it was not in compliance with 2 CFR Subpart D 200.302 (1), 200.303 (a) and 200.502 (b). The Agency’s program expenditures may be disallowed if the expenditures are not reported correctly on the SEFA. Recommendation: We recommend that the Agency review current procedures for creating the SEFA to ensure that it is accurately reporting loan balances and expenditures during the year under audit for all federal programs to ensure compliance with Uniform Guidance. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Recommendation: We recommend that the Authority implements a control to ensure that the preliminary SEFA is mostly accurate so that the correct programs are tested. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: In order to facilitate timely and accurate preparation of the SEFA for the Harris County Housing Authority (HCHA) March 31 fiscal year end, a reconciliation of pass-thru revenues in the general ledger will be performed. In addition, HCHA will make sure to include grant-specific coding in the charts of accounts in order to identify specific and eligible items. The HCHA will also review grants included in the previous year’s SEFA to determine if they should be included in the current year SEFA. In situations where expenditures reported in the SEFA are not the same as the expenditures reported in the general ledger (due to outstanding loan balances, timing of grant awards, expenditures incurred in a prior period, etc.), a reconciliation will be provided to the as notes to the SEFA. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Melissa Quijano, Executive Director Planned completion date for corrective action plan: March 31, 2024

Categories

Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 582829 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
14.228 Community Development Block Grants/state's Program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii $49.10M
14.871 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers $1.61M
14.249 Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy $334,024