Finding Text
U. S. Department of Commerce, COVID-19 EDA CARES RLF and Planning Grant, Listing Number 11.307 2023-03 Material Weakness: Questioned costs were identified within the EDA CARES Planning grant and EDA CARES RLF, $131,986 and $30,865, respectively. $131,986 and $30,865 of federal funds remained unspent at the end of the grant periods and were transferred to the general fund under the assumption unspent funds could be spent in any manner. Criteria: Grant specialists at the Economic Development Administration confirmed all federal funds were to be spent in align with the original Scope of Work and fall within the project period dates. Condition: $162,851 of federal funds were not spent in align with the original Scope of Work and within the project period dates. Cause: GEODC staff did not have adequate knowledge of the EDA CARES Planning grant and EDA CARES RLF that would enable them to identify unallowable costs. Effect: The result is a questioned cost of $162,851 and a compliance violation of requirements pertaining to Activities Allowed/Allowable Costs being reported in the audit reporting package. Context: After the annual audit $131,986 of federal funding was returned to the US Department of Commerce and $30,865 was returned to the EDA CARES revolving loan fund cash balance. Recommendation: We recommend $131,986 of federal funding be returned to the US Department of Commerce and $30,865 returned to the EDA CARES revolving loan fund cash balance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: GEODC staff agreed with the finding and completed the recommended steps after the issue was identified in the annual audit but before the date of our audit report.