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FOLLOW-UP ON PRIOR YEAR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br />As part of our audit of the City's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, we <br />performed procedures to follow up on the findings and recommendations that resulted from our prior year <br />audit. We reported the following finding that was corrected by the City in the current year: <br />• Finding 2024-002 — Significant deficiency in internal control over financial reporting due to a <br />software conversion and error correction. <br />OTHER OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br />Internal Controls Over Vendors <br />A relatively common method of attempting to defraud local governments involves inducing them to pay <br />claims from fictitious vendors for goods or services that were never provided. Strong safeguards over <br />adding new vendors or making changes to existing vendors within the government's account payable <br />system is an important control to mitigate this risk. Some considerations in this area include: <br />• Limiting the number of employees with access to add or alter vendor records within the accounts <br />payable system, <br />• Requiring vendor additions or changes to be reviewed and approved by supervisory personnel, <br />preferably one not directly involved in processing accounts payable, <br />• Verifying the legitimacy of vendors by obtaining a W-9 or other means, <br />• Verifying any changes to vendor address or banking information prior to processing payments, <br />and <br />• Periodically reviewing the vendor listing to remove inactive vendors from the system. <br />During our testing we noted the City did not have on file 5 of the 10 W-9 forms selected for testing. <br />Uniform Guidance Revisions <br />Although the City did not earn enough federal funding to require a Single Audit of its expenditures of <br />federal awards this year, if the City receives any federal funding it is obligated to maintain a <br />comprehensive system of internal controls over federal grant compliance that is up to date with current <br />requirements. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued a revision to Title 2 U.S. Code of <br />Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit <br />Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) in 2024, aiming to streamline grant management <br />and reduce grantor agency and recipient burden. The revised guidance is effective for new federal grant <br />entitlements awarded on or after October 1, 2024. <br />The revision includes a number of significant changes to the federal Single Audit process, including: an <br />increase in dollar threshold for requiring a Single Audit from $750,000 to $1,000,000; changes to the <br />thresholds and process used for determining major programs; an increase in the threshold for the <br />disposition of equipment and remitting unused supplies from $5,000 to $10,000; and an increase in the <br />federal de minimis indirect cost rate from 10 percent to 15 percent. Key changes to written policy <br />requirements for recipients include: enhancement of cybersecurity controls, inclusion of veteran -owned <br />businesses to the group of entities for procurement preference, and a broadened scope for reporting of <br />mandatory disclosures. We recommend the City review its internal control policies to ensure compliance <br />with current guidance. <br />Payroll Withholdings <br />Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls over payroll <br />processing. During our audit, we identified an employee who updated their Internal Revenue Service <br />Form W-4, but the City had not updated the payroll processing system. We recommend that the City <br />review its policies and procedures regarding the processing of W-4's and related payroll information to <br />verify all information is being updated properly into the payroll system and supporting forms are retained <br />on file. <br />-2- <br />