TREMPEALEAU COUNTY

Finding 2024-002: Significant Deficiency - Reporting Repeat of Prior Year Finding 2023-002 Program: COVID-19 - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Federal Award Year: December 31, 2024 Criteria: Based on 42 USC 802 and 803 as implemented by the Treasury's Interim Final Rule and Final Rule at 31 CFR Part 35, recipients of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are required to submit special reporting on an annual basis. The annual report must be submitted by April 30th of each year and reviewed and approved by knowledgeable supervisors, which includes comparing to source documentation and performing reconciliations needed between source data and final reporting when needed. Condition/Context: The annual report was submitted on May 9, 2024, which is after the required due date, and it did not have evidence of review. Additionally, the amounts reported under the categories of expenditures did not correspond to the general ledger. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Effect: Amounts included on the annual report could be unavailable, inaccurate or misleading. Cause: There is a lack of controls around the process for review and submission of the annual report. Questioned Costs: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that the County implement proper review procedures over the annual reporting process to ensure reports are filed timely and accurately. Someone other than the preparer of the report should provide adequate review prior to finalizing the report. This review should include verification that reported expenditure totals agree to the underlying general ledger detail as of the report date. These procedures should be documented and retained. Views of Responsible Officials: Trempealeau County, being a small county, has limited resources in personnel to accomplish a multi-verification in the reporting process. We will use additional current employees in-house to do the verification to make sure the reporting is accurate before submitting.

Finding 2023-002: Significant Deficiency – Reporting Program: COVID-19 – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Federal Award Year: December 31, 2023 Criteria: Based on 42 USC 802 and 803 as implemented by the Treasury's Interim Final Rule and Final Rule at 31 CFR Part 35, recipients of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are required to submit special reporting on an annual basis. The annual report must be reviewed and approved by knowledgeable supervisors, which includes comparing to source documentation and performing reconciliations needed between source data and final reporting when needed. Condition/Context: The annual report did not have evidence of review by a manager or supervisor above the preparer. Effect: Amounts included on the annual report could be inaccurate or misleading. Cause: There was no review of the annual report by someone other than the preparer. Questioned Costs: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that the County implement proper review procedures of the annual reporting process. Someone other than the preparer of the report should provide adequate review prior to finalizing the report. This review should include verification that reported expenditure totals agree to the underlying general ledger detail as of the report date. These procedures should be documented and retained. Views of Responsible Officials: Trempealeau County, being a small county, has limited resources in personnel to accomplish a multi-verification in the reporting process. We will use additional current employees in-house to do the verification to make sure the reporting is accurate before submitting.

FINDING 2019-004: MEDICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES ALLOWED OR UNALLOWED / ALLOWABLE COSTS Federal Program - Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid Cluster) Federal Agency - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass-Through Entity - La Crosse County, GWAAR, WI DHS CFDA Number - 93.778 Federal Award Number - None Award Year - 2019 Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.303, the county should establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal awards. Proper internal controls include proper review and approval of expenditures by an appropriate, knowledgeable individual. Condition: Several expenditures, specifically timecards, did not have proper approval. Cause: Certain Income Maintenance employees and supervisors filled out and approved timecards prior to the end of the pay period. No formal review process exists to compare estimated time to actual at the conclusion of the pay period. Effect: Timecards without proper approval could lead to inaccurate expenditures allocated to the program. Questioned Costs: None noted Context: Of the thirty-seven payroll expenditures tested for the Medical Assistance Program, nine were timecards that did not have proper documentation of approval as they were signed prior to the end of the pay period. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Recommendation: We recommend either moving toward electronic timecards so they can be approved remotely in a timely manner, or keeping documentation that shows subsequent review of the timecards approved in advance. Views of Responsible Officials: Travel requirements related to their work make it difficult for certain supervisors to sign timecards in person in a timely manner after the pay period has concluded. One compensating control is that there is oversight of time entry through the Timer system tool used by La Crosse County, which supervisors review monthly. However, there is no specific written documentation of this review. The county has already moved toward the use of electronic timesheet approval during 2020 due to COVID-19. We expect this change will prevent similar issues in the future.