Wednesday, May 04, 2022

City Accounting Firm Revealed Federal Funds Increase

 

City Council heard from external auditors in yesterday's Council meeting and learned federal grants rose more than $10 million for fiscal year ended September 2021.

The 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report had one weakness in the federal grant arena.  The report stated:

2021-001: Major Program Not Captured on Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs Type of Finding: 

Internal Control over Compliance (Material Weakness) Criteria: 

2 CFR Section 200 requires that the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards report all expenditures of the government expended in the year under audit. 

Condition: A major program was not included in the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and was identified as a Federal program. 

Cause: The Federal program was administered by the City’s discretely presented component unit and its applicability to the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards was not identified until the audit was nearing completion. 

Effect: The original Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards did not originally include a major program and was not included in the original major program determination. 

Context: Because this program was major and has not been audited in the prior two years, it was mandatory that this program be tested as a major program.

The report did not identify the federal grant that had been omitted.  A public information request found the grant came from the U.S. Commerce Department in 2018 and provided $1.25 million in funding for Industrial Park infrastructure expansion.

It will be interesting to see how Council prioritizes spending the expanded federal grant funds as they plan for the next budget year.  The accountant said every federal dollar has to be spent for its intended use.

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