Rock Island County Regional Office of Education #49

FINDING 2022-002 - Controls Over Timely Expenditure Report Submissions (Repeat of finding 21-002) Federal Program: Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers, Education Stabilization Fund Project No.: 21-4421-13, 21-4421-15, 21-4421-25, 21-4998-EC Assistance Listing Number: 84.287C, 84.425C Passed-Through: Illinois State Board of Education Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria/Specific Requirement: The Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act (30 ILCS 705/4) requires State grant recipients with awards in excess of $25,000 to submit quarterly expenditure reports to reflect the progress of the grant program. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) requires all grant recipients, regardless of amount awarded, to submit quarterly expenditure reports. The State and Federal Grant Administration Policy, Fiscal Requirements, and Procedures of the ISBE Division of Funding and Disbursement Services requires expenditure reports to be filed within 20 calendar days of the end of each reporting quarter and grant period end. Condition: Rock Island County Regional Office of Education No. 49?s internal controls over expenditure report submission were not effective. It was noted that expenditure reports for Illinois State Board of Education grants were not submitted timely. Specifically, the following expenditure reports were not submitted timely: See Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs for chart/table Questioned Costs: None Context: Rock Island County Regional Office of Education No. 49 submitted 58 expenditure reports to the Illinois State Board of Education for grants with reporting dates ending during fiscal year 2022. Of those 58 reports, 8 were not timely. Effect: Grant programs could be frozen by the ISBE and future payments could be delayed if reports are not submitted in a timely manner. Cause: Regional Office officials indicated that they did not detect in a timely and effective manner that the expenditure reports had not been submitted prior to the due dates. Auditor?s Recommendation: Rock Island County Regional Office of Education No. 49 should take appropriate steps to ensure the expenditure reports are filed within the prescribed guidelines set forth by ISBE. Management?s Response: A new Bookkeeper has joined the team at the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education and, in conjunction with the Regional Superintendent and grant program personnel, a specific process has been established to review the specific due dates of the expenditure reports at the onset of the fiscal year. All pertinent information that is necessary for the completion of the reports are identified by the Regional Superintendent, grant program personnel, and accounting department personnel to provide in a readily available format in order to ensure successful completion of the report by the due date. Additionally, dates are identified for when the reports will be submitted to ISBE which is well in advance of the due dates. All accounting personnel have been cross trained in the process for expenditure report submittal in order to ensure the reports are submitted to ISBE by the prescribed due dates.