Reports

Election Assistance Commission OIG

Audit of the HAVA Grants Awarded to the State of Wisconsin

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of McBride, Lock & Associates, LLC, audited $27.4 million in funds received by the State of Wisconsin under the Help America Vote Act. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the State of Wisconsin Elections Commission: 1) used funds for authorized purposes in accordance with Section 101 and Section 251 of HAVA and other applicable requirements; 2) properly accounted for and controlled property purchased with HAVA payments; and 3) used the funds in a manner consistent with the informational plans provided to EAC. The audit...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 9/27/2023

Department of Agriculture OIG

COVID-19 - Coronavirus Food Assistance Program - Direct Support

We determined whether Farm Service Agency (FSA) provided timely and accurate Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) direct payments to eligible recipients.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Education OIG

Washington’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans. We found that Washington did not have an adequate review and approval process to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met all applicable...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 9/20/2023

Election Assistance Commission OIG

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of Missouri

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of McBride, Lock & Associates, LLC, audited $27.4 million in funds received by the State of Missouri under the Help America Vote Act. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Missouri Office of the Secretary of State: 1) used funds for authorized purposes in accordance with Section 101 and Section 251 of HAVA and other applicable requirements; 2) properly accounted for and controlled property purchased with HAVA payments; and 3) used the funds in a manner consistent with the informational plans provided to EAC. The audit...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 8/25/2023

Department of Agriculture OIG

COVID-19—Farmers to Families Food Box Program Administration

In our final report, we assessed the controls Agricultural Marketing Service developed and implemented to ensure awardees fulfilled the obligations of their contracts.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Election Assistance Commission OIG

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of Alaska

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of McBride, Lock & Associates, LLC, audited $15.2 million in funds received by the State of Alaska under the Help America Vote Act. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: 1) used funds for authorized purposes in accordance with Section 101 and Section 251 of HAVA and other applicable requirements; 2) properly accounted for and controlled property purchased with HAVA payments; and 3) used the funds in a manner consistent with the informational plans provided to EAC. The audit...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 8/02/2023

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation OIG

FDIC Examinations of Government-Guaranteed Loans

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Inspection / Evaluation | 5/10/2023

1 - Open

Develop and implement guidance to examination staff on the credit, operational (including fraud), liquidity, and compliance risks related to Government-guaranteed loans to ensure staff adequately plans and conducts examinations to identify and address emerging risks.

10 - Open

Develop and implement a training plan to ensure examination staff are trained on the requirements and risks of Government-guaranteed loan programs.

11 - Closed

Update, develop, and distribute to FDIC examination personnel a list of FDIC examiners who have significant experience examining banks that specialize in Government-guaranteed loan programs to regional offices.

12 - Closed

Develop and implement a process to obtain improved data regarding Government-guaranteed lending activities of FDIC-supervised financial
institutions.

13 - Closed

Update the [redacted] MOU to include the sharing of loan portfolio information such as historical loan performance, status of guaranty, and loan-level risk characteristics.

14 - Closed

Establish arrangements with other Federal agencies that administer Government-guaranteed loan programs to facilitate information sharing and
proactive identification of risk.

15 - Closed

Develop and implement processes and procedures for the routine sharing, receipt, and storage of confidential information with Federal agencies that administer Government-guaranteed loan programs.

16 - Closed

Develop and implement guidance to provide instruction to FDIC bank examination staff requiring communication and information sharing with Federal agencies that administer Government-guaranteed loan programs to ensure FDIC staff and the Federal agencies are aware of any emerging risks.

17 - Closed

Determine whether other Federal agencies that administer Government-guaranteed loan programs have a list of FDIC-supervised banks with high risk factors associated with such programs and develop protocols to share information with relevant FDIC personnel, including examiners.

18 - Closed

Develop and implement guidance to ensure relevant risk information exchanged with Federal Government agencies that administer Government-guaranteed loan programs is shared internally within the FDIC on an ongoing basis with the appropriate FDIC employees.

19 - Closed

Develop and implement updated FDIC examination guidance to establish an appropriate timeframe for uploading complete supervisory business records to RADD.

2 - Open

Develop and implement guidance to examination staff to ensure the staff consistently evaluate Government-guaranteed loans in their review of loan classification, assessment of off-balance sheet risk, concentration risk, and ongoing monitoring.

3 - Closed

Update and implement the Examination Profile Script to include additional questions on financial institution participation in Government-guaranteed loan programs in order to identify and address emerging risk.

4 - Closed

Develop and implement additional items to the Safety and Soundness Request List to identify Government-guaranteed loans, the performance of those loans, and status of the guaranty.

5 - Closed

Issue and implement guidance to require that examination staff conduct a fraud risk assessment on future Government-guaranteed loan programs involving FDIC-insured and FDIC-supervised financial institutions to inform policy decisions.

6 - Closed

Ensure guidance on future Government-guaranteed loan programs includes all risks associated with such programs and has instructions to allow for consistency in supervisory activities.

7 - Closed

Issue and implement guidance for examiners clarifying the FDIC supervisory expectations for reviewing bank PPP activities, including the level of PPP loan volume triggering a heightened review, how examiners should assess the PPP activities of banks that have existing BSA/AML weaknesses, and protocols for examination staff to communicate observed weaknesses.

8 - Open

Revise and implement FDIC guidance and practices for assessing concentrations and loan classification to ensure uniform application with the other Federal bank regulators of supervisory approaches to banks

9 - Open

Coordinate with the other Federal bank regulators to ensure uniform application of supervisory approaches to banks regarding concentrations and loan classification.

Election Assistance Commission OIG

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

EAC OIG audited funds received by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under the Help America Vote Act, totaling $1.2 million. This included Election Security and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act grants.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 2/24/2023

Department of Education OIG

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

Our objective was to determine whether the University of Cincinnati (University) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes. The University spent $109.9 million (83 percent) of its total HEERF allocation of $132.8 million as of September 30, 2021. The University generally used the Student Aid ($42.1 million) and Institutional ($67.8 million) portions of its HEERF grant funds for allowable and intended purposes but needs to strengthen its...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 1/17/2023

1.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement a review process to prevent or detect payment errors when awarding emergency financial aid grants to students, including written policies and procedures detailing how the reviews shall be conducted and the results documented, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.303.

1.2 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies, procedures, and management review to ensure that its award determinations, eligibility criteria, and management decisions related to eligibility for its emergency financial aid grants to students are adequately documented and supported at the time award decisions are made, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.302(b)(3).

1.3 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to carefully document how its student aid eligibility criteria prioritized and continues to prioritize students with exceptional need throughout the HEERF grant performance period.

2.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures, including procedures that would identify and prevent improper revenue recognition and duplicate charges, to ensure that future calculations for charging lost revenue to its HEERF Institutional grant are reviewed for accuracy and consistency with its financial reporting policies and procedures.

2.2 - Open

Determine whether the University of Cincinnati implemented appropriate corrective actions to resolve the $797,965 in unsupported lost revenue costs it charged to its HEERF Institutional grant; and, if the corrective actions are inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.3 - Open

Determine whether the $1,916,041 that the University of Cincinnati charged to its HEERF Institutional grant for noncompetitive procurements was reasonable when compared to the costs of suitable alternatives; and, if the charges were inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.4 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure that procurements charged to its HEERF Institutional grant are in accordance with applicable Federal requirements; and it consistently follows its procurement policies and procedures, including maintaining sufficient documentation to support its rationale for noncompetitive procurements and the basis for and reasonableness of the contract price.

3.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to incorporate in its policies and procedures and implement the cash management requirements for minimizing the time between drawing down and disbursing Federal grant funds, and remitting interest earned in excess of $500 in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b).

3.2 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to remit $35,439 based on the TIP’s average rate of return, less no more than $320 ($500 minus the $180 already retained) for administrative expenses if applicable; and remit the actual amount of earned interest on any future advances of Federal funds, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b)(9).

4.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures that incorporate the HEERF program’s reporting requirements and ensure that the expenditures in its quarterly HEERF Institutional expenditure reports are accurate and reported in the appropriate expenditure category.

Election Assistance Commission OIG

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of California

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of McBride, Lock & Associates, LLC, audited funds received by the State of California under the Help America Vote Act, including state matching funds and interest earned, totaling $216.3 million. This included Election Security, reissued Section 101, reissued Section 251, and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act grants.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 10/04/2022

1 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office perform a reconciliation of the grant activity for the Election Security, Section 251 reissued, Section 101 reissued, and CARES Act funds and ensure that all expenditures are fully disclosed, and file amended FFRs, as applicable. If the Office determines that it is unable to perform the reconciliation of the grant activity, obtain financial services to support the completion of the reconciliation.

2 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office implement procedures and training to properly fill out the required Federal Financial Reports, which reflect the uses of award funds and the interest and program income generated from those funds for all HAVA grants.

3 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office transfer into the election fund $51,012 and any related fringe benefits and indirect costs for the unsupported payroll costs cited above.

4 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office implement procedures or provide additional training to ensure that payroll costs are adequately supported with appropriate signature approvals, pay rates, and timesheets when being allocated to the HAVA grants.

5 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office perform detailed testing on the $180,350 of additional wages selected for substantive testing to determine what amount, if any, remains unsupported.

6 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC work with the Office to resolve the one remaining unsupported County reimbursement.

7 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office to transfer into the election fund any amount which remains unsupported.

8 - Closed

We recommend that the EAC require the Office to develop and implement policies and procedures and provide training to ensure adequate documentation is maintained to support the allowability of expenditures charged to the HAVA grant.

Date Range

Report Type

Report Category

Submitting Agency

State/Local Agency

State (State and Local Reports)

Fraud Type

Agency Reviewed

Related Organizations

Management Challenges

Any Recommendations

Any Open Recommendations

Reports

Audit of the HAVA Grants Awarded to the State of Wisconsin

COVID-19 - Coronavirus Food Assistance Program - Direct Support

Washington’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of Missouri

COVID-19—Farmers to Families Food Box Program Administration

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of Alaska

FDIC Examinations of Government-Guaranteed Loans

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

Audit of the Help America Vote Act Grants Awarded to the State of California

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