City of RiponLocal Government

Procurement, Suspension, and Debarment Federal Assistance Listing Number - 21.027 Federal Agency - Department of Treasury Federal Program Title - COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Award Period - 03/31/2021 through 12/31/2024 Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension, and Debarment Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance, and Other Matter Condition: The City does not have a procurement policy in compliance with UGG requirements, specifically as it relates to retained supporting documentation, which includes not having a policy on suspension & debarment verification. Criteria or Specific Requirement: 2 CFR 200 requires that all procurement transactions for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award must be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition consistent with the standards of this section and §200.320. The non-Federal entity must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurement. These records will include, but are not necessarily limited to the following: Rationale for the method of procurement, selection of contract type, contractor selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price. Further, the method of procurement, whether informal or formal, must follow the City's written procurement policy on approval thresholds and controls. 2 CFR 200 states that non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220). All non-procurement transactions entered into by a pass-through entity (i.e., subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions, unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR section 180.215. When a non-Federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-Federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. Cause: The City has a purchasing policy but not a procurement policy that follows Uniform Guidance (UG) nor does the City have a policy that covers suspension & debarment. Effect: The City is not in compliance with procurement or suspension & debarment requirements. Contracts for construction, non- construction related procurements, and those over the simplified acquisition threshold many not be in compliance with the Uniform Guidance. Vendors many be paid with federal funds that are suspended and debarred entities which would not be in compliance with the Uniform Guidance. Recommendation: We recommend the City review and update procurement policies for the entire City to ensure it meets the minimum requirements of 2 CFR 200 for all federal grants and establish a procurement process in order to ensure this policy is followed which includes adding language over suspension & debarment. View of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the finding.