Finding 976887 (2023-002)

IC 2023-002 – Reporting Criteria: The District was required to submit a quarterly project and expenditure report to the grantor for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds – American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funding it had received during the fiscal year 2023 and should have had controls in place to monitor the proper, timely filing of the reports under the grant. Condition: The District did not file the required report during fiscal year 2023 and has subsequently filed the report in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024. The internal control processes in place over grant reporting did not address ensuring that this grant reporting requirement was met in a timely manner. Context: The grant requirements require recipients to submit status reports on the use of funds and this was a one-time use of funds for a specific land purchase so only one quarterly report should have been filed but it should have been filed in the quarter in which the funds were expended. Effect: The failure to file the required report resulted in non-compliance with grant requirements, which could lead to the District being ineligible for future funding. Recommendation: We recommend that the District review its current policies and procedures for when new grant funding is received to ensure that all relevant requirements including status reports of each grant are properly noted and internal controls are put in place to monitor timely compliance by the operating departments and divisions of these requirements. Views of Responsible Officials: The corrective action taken to resolve the reporting finding was an enhancement to the grant monitoring and reporting procedures by adding a scheduled review of the reporting requirements.