Reports

The program guidance issued by ACCD on April 27, 2021 for the Economic Recovery Bridge Grant program uses 2020 federal tax loss to establish eligibility for grants consistent with the requirements of H.315 (Act 9). Focusing on tax loss may help target limited resources to businesses that need assistance to remain viable. However, clarification is needed in the program guidance to avoid reliance on a tax-based measure that is not representative of losses associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency and to prevent grant awards that exceed business need.

The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) and the General Services Department (GSD) issue this Risk Advisory to alert all governmental entities, including school districts, throughout the State of New Mexico of risks related to the management and expenditure of CARES Act funds, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. The OSA advises reviewing CARES Act and ESSER requirements in conjunction with internal controls to aid in the proper use of the funds and prevention and detection of risks that may lead to waste, fraud, and abuse

This review was completed as a non-audit service and does not constitute an audit conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. In agreement with management, we performed the following tasks: Reviewed practices for tracking COVID-19 related payroll and non-payroll expenditures; Reviewed the adequacy of tracking and systems/software for emergency management events; and Researched cost recovery funding sources for local government.

This special report provides information to assist Berkeley’s leaders in navigating the financial challenges ahead. We conducted interviews and reviewed data from government finance and budget officials to compile information on estimates of how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the local economy and Berkeley’s revenues and expenditures; and considerations from government finance and budget officials for the City Manager and Council to inform decisions about how to manage resources as revenues decline and expenditures increase.

In July 2020, Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness announced the creation of a national COVID-19 Data Quality Audit Template. The template was created as part of a bipartisan, multistate effort with auditor’s offices from Florida, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania in order to create a uniform approach to data collection, reporting, and monitoring of COVID-19 across the country. Several auditor’s offices across the country have released reports specifically using the COVID-19 Data Quality Audit Template. The goal for this report is to evaluate released reports for common issues that can...

As a part of our audit of the State of Louisiana’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and our work related to the Single Audit of the State of Louisiana for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, we performed procedures at the Department of the Treasury to provide assurances on financial information that was significant to the state’s ACFR. The Department of Treasury did not consistently follow its policies and procedures for all grants awarded through the Main Street Recovery Program, which provided reimbursement from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund to eligible Louisiana...

In this performance audit, we reviewed financial activity from federal funds provided by the CARES Act and the CRRSAA. The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) received grant funding under two components of the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund: direct funding from the United States Department of Education (US DOE), provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE), allocated through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. Under the CRRSAA, MassArt received direct funding...

The audit examined Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination's (MCAD) case management system to determine whether a backlog was present. The audit also reviewed whether MCAD had created a process for ensuring that CARES Act funds received complied with the policies issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth and whether the employees processing these funds were trained in risk management and information security as required by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security.

This is the second of two audits pertaining to Vermont’s usage of CRF funds conducted by the State Auditor’s Office. The objectives of this audit were to (1) assess whether and how AHS ensured that only those providers meeting State and Federal requirements received payments under the HCS program and (2) to determine whether selected HCS payments were supported and did not duplicate payments made under other government COVID-19 programs.

The audit examined Worcester State University's (WSU) use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund grants received through the CARES Act and CRRSAA. The audit also determined whether users of WSU’s Colleague Finance system (the information system containing financial records used at the university) received cybersecurity awareness training in accordance with standards issued by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security. Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance by WSU that must be reported.