Union County District School BoardLocal Government

Finding: District controls did not always ensure compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act for Federally funded construction projects exceeding $2,000. Criteria: The ESSER Fund provides Federal funds for school facility repairs and improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs. Title 29, Section 5.5, Code of Federal Regulations (Davis-Bacon Act), requires the District to include prevailing wage rate clauses in any construction contract exceeding $2,000 that is financed either wholly or in part by Federal funds and ensure that contractors pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. This includes a requirement for the contractor or subcontractor to submit to the District weekly, for each week in which any contract work is performed, a copy of the payroll and a statement of compliance (certified payrolls). The United States Department of Labor established ?prevailing wages? by geographic area and interprets the Davis-Bacon Act to apply to construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public work. Condition: During the 2021-22 fiscal year, the Board entered into three construction contracts totaling $336,157 for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) renovation projects at Lake Butler Elementary School, Lake Butler Middle School, and Union County High School. As of June 30, 2022, the District had expended ESSER funds totaling $336,157 on the projects. Our examination of the project contracts disclosed that they contained clauses that required the projects to comply with the Davis-Bacon Act provisions. However, contractors did not submit to the District weekly certified payrolls demonstrating prevailing wage rates were paid. Subsequent to our inquiry, District personnel obtained from the HVAC contractor certified payrolls demonstrating that prevailing wage rates were paid for these projects. Cause: District contracts did not specifically require contractors to submit to the District weekly certified payrolls and District procedures had not been established to require District personnel to verify that the payrolls were received. Effect: Absent the required contract clauses and weekly certified payrolls, there is an increased risk that construction contractors paid with Federal moneys will not pay workers the prevailing wage rates established by the United States Department of Labor. Recommendation: The District should enhance procedures to ensure compliance with all Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Such procedures should ensure that applicable Federally funded facility contracts specifically require submittal of weekly certified payrolls and that District personnel verify the payrolls were received. District Response: The District has trained new purchasing staff on procedures to ensure future compliance with Davis-Bacon Act provisions.