{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[15, "wa-sao", "1020366", "2016-002", null, "WA", "City of Chehalis", "City/Town", "0487", "5311475", "no_match", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Financial and Federal audit \u2014 City of Chehalis", "Financial and Federal", 2016, "2016-01-01", "2016-12-31", "2019-03-28", "federal_award_compliance", "material_weakness", 0.0, "Questioned Cost Amount: $0", "The City did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with federal Davis -Bacon Act (prevailing wage) requirements. CFDA Number and Title: 20.106 Airport Improvement Grant Federal Grantor Name: Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Award/Contract Number: 3-53-0012-017-2016 Pass-through Entity Name: NA Pass-through Award/Contract Number: NA Quest", "Background \nDuring fiscal year 2016, the City of Chehalis spent $692,210 through the Airport \nImprovement Grant. \nThe Davis-Bacon Act (Act) requires that all laborers and mechanics employed by \ncontractors or subcontractors to work on construction contracts of more than \n$2,000 financed with federal funds must be p aid wages not less than those \nestablished for the locality of the project (prevailing wage rates) by the \nDepartment of Labor. The A ct includes a requirement for the contractor or \nsubcontractor to submit to the City weekly, for each week in which any \ncontract work is performed, a copy of its payroll and a statement of compliance \n(weekly certified payroll). \nDescription of Condition \nThe City did not have an adequate process in place to ensure contractors and \nsubcontractors working on federal grant -funded projects filed week ly certified \npayrolls. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 10 \nWe consider this internal control deficiency to be a material weakness, which led \nto material noncompliance. This issue was not reported as a finding in the prior \naudit. \nCause of Condition \nThe City did not dedicate the necessary resources to develop an adequate system of \nmonitoring and review to ensure weekly certified payrolls were submitted by all \ncontractors and subcontractors. The City did not know it could assess sanctions for \ncontractor noncompliance with this requirement. \nEffect of Condition and Questioned Costs \nThe City did not obtain all weekly certified payrolls for the Chehalis -Centralia \nAirport Apron Rehabilitation project. \nOur audit found that 28 of the 104 required weekly certified payroll reports were \nnot obtained d uring 2016. The missing weekly certified payroll reports were all \nfrom subcontractors. \nWithout adequate internal controls, the City cannot demonstrate workers were paid \nprevailing wages as required by the Act. The City could be liable for paying \nadditional wages if prevailing wages were not paid. \nRecommendation \nWe recommend the City implement internal controls to ensure compliance with the \nAct\u2019s requirements, including implementing an effective process to ensure all \nweekly certified payrolls are collected. This could include actions such as assessing \nsanctions on noncompliant contractors in accordance with Standard Specifications \nuntil certified payroll reports are received for all hours worked during each pay \nperiod. \nCity \u2019s Response \nThe City would like to thank the State Auditor\u2019s Office for their recommendations \nand assistance throughout the audit. \nThe City hired an engineering firm to oversee the program, including obtaining \nweekly certified payrolls from the contractors and subcontractors. It was verifi ed, \nafter the initial auditor\u2019s requests for records, that the required weekly certified \npayrolls from the contractors and subcontractors had been obtained by the \nengineering firm with some exceptions and were available at the engineering firm. \nHowever, the City staff was unaware of the federal requirements during the audit, \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 11 \nand the City did not have controls in place to ensure and monitor that the \nengineering firm was complying with the grant requirements. \nThe City had staff turnover at the Airport during the grant period. The City\u2019s former \nAirport Director resigned in August 2017. The City\u2019s new Airport Operations \nCoordinator has taken over the grant project but was unaware of the federal grant \nrequirements of Davis-Bacon Act. \nFor future Airport grants, t he City will create a checklist and monitor the \nengineering firm to ensure all grant requirements are met. In addition, the Airport \nstaff will attend a federal grant training to gain knowledge of federal grant \nrequirements. \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe appreciate the City\u2019s commitment to resolve this finding. We will review the \ncorrective action taken during our next regular audit. We th ank the City for its \ncooperation and assistance during the audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nThe American Institute of Certified Public A ccountants defines significant \ndeficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing \nStandards, section 935, paragraph 11. \nTitle 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative \nRequirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards \n(Uniform Guidance), section 200.303 Internal controls, establishes internal \ncontrol requirements for management of Federal awards to non-Federal entities. \nTitle 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative \nRequirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards \n(Uniform Guidance), section 200.516 Audit findings, establishes reporting \nrequirements for audit findings. \nTitle 29, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 5.5 \u2013 Contract \nprovisions and related matters, establishes required contract provisions with \nregard to prevailing wages. \nTitle 29, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 3.3 \u2013 Weekly statement \nwith respect to payment of wages establishes weekly certified payroll \nrequirements. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 12", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1020366&isFinding=false&sp=false", "2026-07-30 13:24:54"]], "columns": ["rowid", "source", "report_number", "finding_number", "muni_id", "state", "entity_name", "entity_type", "entity_ext_id", "place_geoid", "match_method", "auditor", "report_title", "audit_type", "fiscal_year", "period_start", "period_end", "published_date", "finding_category", "severity", "questioned_cost", "cost_basis", "finding_title", "finding_text", "report_url", "fetched_at"], "primary_keys": ["rowid"], "primary_key_values": ["15"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 15.065722982399166, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}