audit_findings: 2

This data as json

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
2	wa-sao	1017656	2015-002	4	WA	City of Seattle	City/Town	0433	5363000	geoid_place	Washington State Auditor's Office	Financial and Federal audit — City of Seattle	Financial and Federal	2015	2015-01-01	2015-12-31	2019-08-19	federal_award_compliance	material_weakness	1566880.0	Questioned Cost Amount: $1,566,880	The City did not have adequate internal controls in place to ensure compliance with federal subre cipient monitoring requirements. CFDA Number and Title: 14.267 Continuum of Care Program Federal Grantor Name: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Federal Award/Contract Number: Multiple awards Pass-through Entity Name: N/A Pass-through Award/Contract Number: N/A Questioned Cost Amo	Background The City of Seattle’s Human Service Department administers the Continuum of Care Program. This program is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness by providing housing and supportive services to homeless individuals a nd families. The Department spent $11.4 million in Continuum of Care funds, of which $10.6 million was passed on to subrecipients who perform the primary activities of this program. Description of Condition Federal regulations require the City to monitor subrecipients’ activities to ensure that subwards are used for authorized purposes which can be accomplished by subrecipients submitting invoices containing supporting source documentation or reviewing supporting source documentation during on-site visits. That monitoring, particularly the on -site visits, is important to ensure that subrecipients’ administration of programs are appropriate and in compliance with federal requirements, including those related to allowable costs and activities. During the current audit, we found:  The Department utilized a monitoring log to track on -site visits for subrecipients by project. However, the log excluded 36 of the 82 projects Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 18 during 2015. Without a complete and current log, the Department cannot ensure site visits are performed and tracked for all subrecipients’ projects.  The Department’s policy is to perform semi -annual site visits; however, it did not perform on -site visits that included a fiscal review of invoices or other documentation required to support the costs incurred for eight of the 16 projects reviewed. For the fiscal reviews that were conducted, documentation was not always sufficiently complete to establish that site visits were adequately performed. We consider these control deficiencies to be material weaknesses. Cause of Condition The Grants and Contracts Specialists who perform on -site visits did not have the necessary training and resources to perform adequate financial review. Effect of Condition and Questioned Costs By reimbursing subrecipie nts for costs claimed without receiving adequate documentation or otherwise monitoring the subreceipients’ use of funding, the City is unable to ensure costs charge to the grant are allowable. As a result, we are questioning $1,566,880 of costs paid to eight subrecipient projects. Recommendation We recommend the Department establish internal controls to ensure compliance with the subreceipient monitoring requirements including:  Providing training to program specialists to ensure they have an adequate understanding of federal subrecipient monitoring requirements and Department policies.  Requiring subrecipients to provide adequate documentation to support the costs incurred or perform on -site visits that includes a review of source documentation.  Retaining sufficient documentation to demonstrate compliance with federal subreceipient monitoring requirements. City’s Response The City understands the Auditor’s concerns regarding inadequate internal controls in place and is taking immediate and long -term corrective actions to ensure compliance with federal subrecipient monitoring requirements going forward. Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 19 Auditor’s Remarks We thank the City for its assistance during the audit and will follow up on corrective actions taken during the next audit. Applicabl e Laws and Regulations Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) establishes reporting requirements for audit findings. 2 CFR 200.516 Audit Reporting, states in part: (a) Audit findings reported. The auditor must report the following as audit findings in a	https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1017656&isFinding=false&sp=false	2026-07-30 13:24:54