| Organization: | Office of the State Auditor |
|---|---|
| Date published: | May 29, 2024 |
Executive Summary
In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (A&F) for the period July 1, 2020 through April 30, 2022.
The purpose of our audit was to determine the following:
- whether A&F’s Federal Funds Office (FFO) established a desk review1 process of the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CvRF) Municipal Program (CvRF-MP) to ensure that all subrecipient expenditures and supporting documentation met the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act requirements regarding how subrecipients spent funds they received through the CvRF, in accordance with the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth’s “Sub-Recipient Monitoring Policy”;
- whether FFO sampled approximately one-third of eligible municipalities across four rounds of desk reviews, in accordance with the “Desk Review Scope and Methodology” section of FFO’s “Compliance with COVID-19 Federal Funding” policy;
- whether FFO, if it identified desk reviews with findings related to CvRF compliance, (1) initiated a formal remediation process to ensure that municipalities with these findings employ enhanced policies and procedures moving forward and (2) recommended compliance best practices to the municipalities in question, in accordance with the “Eligibility Review” section of FFO’s “Compliance with COVID-19 Federal Funding” policy; and
- whether A&F maintained a debarred vendor list that accurately reflects vendors that should not be awarded state contracts, in accordance with Section 29F(b) of Chapter 29 of the General Laws.
Below is a summary of our findings and recommendations, with links to each page listed.
| Finding 1 | A&F’s FFO could not ensure that all subrecipient expenditures and supporting documentation met the CARES Act requirements regarding how the subrecipient spent funds it received through the CvRF. |
| Recommendation | FFO should collect all necessary supporting documentation from the municipalities it sampled during its desk review process. |
| Finding 2 | FFO did not initiate its formal remediation process for municipalities that had desk review findings. |
| Recommendations |
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| Finding 3 | A&F did not maintain a consolidated debarred vendor list that contained all required information. |
| Recommendations |
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1. According to a memorandum from A&F to the chief executives of Massachusetts cities and towns, dated November 12, 2020, a desk review (also called a desk audit) consists of evaluating the documentation that a municipality provided to support its use of funds it received through the CvRF. These reviews may involve meetings and possible site visits. FFO reviews one CvRF-MP expenditure for each municipality that it samples for evaluation. If FFO identifies any desk reviews with findings related to CvRF compliance, then FFO initiates a formal remediation process, which includes meeting with the municipality to discuss the finding(s) in more detail.
Table of Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- Overview of Audited Entity
- Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
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- A&F's Federal Funds Office Could Not Ensure All Subrecipient Expenditures and Supporting Documentation Met Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Requirements Regarding How the Subrecipient Spent Funds it received through Coronavirus Funds
- The Federal Funds Office Did Not Initiate Its Formal Remediation Process for Municipalities That Had Desk Review Findings
- The Executive Office for Administration and Finance Did Not Maintain a Consolidated Debarred Vendor List That Contained All Required Information
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