Finding Text
2023-004 - Procurement, Suspension, and Debarment – Internal Control over Procurement and Verification Against the System for Award Management (“SAM”) (Significant Deficiency)
Identification of the Federal Program:
Assistance Listing Number: 14.218
Federal Program Name: Community Development Block Grants-Entitlement Grants Cluster
Federal Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Pass-Through Entity: N/A
Federal Award Number(s) and Award Year: B-21-MC-06-0554
Assistance Listing Number: 21.027
Assistance Listing Title: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
Federal Agency: Department of Treasury
Pass-Through Entity: N/A
Federal Award Number and Award Year: N/A
Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation):
Suspension and Debarment, Non-Federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include those procurement contracts for goods and services awarded under a nonprocurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220. All nonprocurement transactions entered into by a recipient (i.e., subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions, unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR section 180.215.
When a non-Federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-Federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ (Note: The OMB guidance at 2 CFR part 180 and agency implementing regulations still refer to the SAM Exclusions as the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)), (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity (2 CFR section 180.300).
In accordance with OMB Uniform Guidance, entities under the program, including subrecipients of a state, must follow the procurement standards in 2 CFR sections § 200.318 through § 200.327, including ensuring that the procurement method used for the contracts are appropriate based on the dollar amount and conditions specified in 2 CFR section 200.320.
C.F.R. § 200.319 prescribes that all procurement transactions for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award must be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition consistent with the standards of this section and § 200.320. Further, the non-Federal entity must ensure that all prequalified lists of persons, firms, or products which are used in acquiring goods and services are current and include enough qualified sources to ensure maximum open and free competition. Also, the non-Federal entity must not preclude potential bidders from qualifying during the solicitation period.
Condition:
Community Development Block Grants-Entitlement Grants Cluster
Based on the City’s formal purchasing policy, purchase orders are required to initiate purchases from procured vendors for transactions above $5,000. During our audit, we noted that seven (7) out of forty (40) samples did have purchase order approval made subsequent to invoice approval. The aforementioned circumstance suggests that the method of procurement was not in line with the City’s adopted policy established in line with the Uniform Guidance.
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
We determined that seven (7) out of forty (40) samples did have purchase order approval made subsequent to invoice approval. The aforementioned circumstance suggests that the method of procurement was not in line with the City’s adopted policy established in line with the Uniform Guidance.
During our audit, we also noted that there was no supporting document to indicate that the City verified the vendor against the SAM to ensure the vendor was not suspended or debarred from federally-funded programs before the contract was entered into.
Cause:
The City did not follow its policies and process in place to check and ensure the suspension and debarment review process over vendors that provides goods or services to the City’s programs was conducted prior to enter into contract. The City implemented necessary procedures to address the finding discovered during the audit for the year ended June 30,2022 prospectively, however, due to the timing of the previous audit, the City was not able to address for the year ended June 30, 2023.
Effect or Potential Effect:
Without verifying whether vendors are suspended or debarred from working on federally-funded projects prior to the contract awarded, the City could be contracting with vendors that are prohibited from working on federally funded projects.
Questioned Costs:
None.
Context:
See condition above for context of the finding.
Identification as a Repeat Finding, If Applicable:
Yes. See prior year finding 2022-004.
Recommendation:
We recommended the City follow internal control policies and procedures to incorporate the suspension and debarment verification prior to awarding contracts.
Views of Responsible Officials:
Management concurs the finding.