Reports

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to Multnomah County. We conducted this audit to support transparent and accountable government operations during this unprecedented time. This report details what the county spent pandemic funding on, which provider organizations received pandemic funding from the county, and whether funds were distributed in alignment with the county’s stated commitment to leading with race. In this audit, we found that county management sought to balance the need to get resources out to the community quickly with also maintaining effective policies...

The purpose of this performance audit report was to assess the effectiveness of the Unemployment Insurance Agency's actions to establish federally complaint claimant eligibility criteria for the PUA program. We ultimately concluded their actions were not effective as the agency established incorrect criteria for the PUA program and failed to take timely or appropriate corrective action when notified of deficiencies by the Department of Labor.

At the time we initiated this review, the Montgomery County Council had appropriated almost $24 million through three separate resolutions to provide rental assistance to residents negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The appropriations funded the COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program, administered by the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County and the COVID-19 Rental Relief Program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. We conducted this review to determine (1) if vulnerabilities exist in either program that create opportunities for fraud or abuse...

This audit was conducted to evaluate CARES Act funds designated for City Council-approved small business recovery and housing relief programs. The Office found that Community relief programs were adequately designed to address the economic impact from the pandemic. Controls over the distribution and monitoring of some community recovery programs should be improved to prevent and detect misappropriations. Emergency relief programs can benefit from the lessons learned during these COVID-19 responses.

Millions of Americans still face housing insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 15 percent behind on rent payments at the end of June.1 Households in New York State (22 percent) and the New York City metropolitan area (26 percent), excluding counties outside the State, have an even greater share of residents behind on rent. New York City not only houses the majority of the State’s renters (63 percent), but also had relatively high rates of rent-burdened tenants prior to the pandemic.

The program guidance issued by ACCD on April 27, 2021 for the Economic Recovery Bridge Grant program uses 2020 federal tax loss to establish eligibility for grants consistent with the requirements of H.315 (Act 9). Focusing on tax loss may help target limited resources to businesses that need assistance to remain viable. However, clarification is needed in the program guidance to avoid reliance on a tax-based measure that is not representative of losses associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency and to prevent grant awards that exceed business need.

As a part of our audit of the State of Louisiana’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and our work related to the Single Audit of the State of Louisiana for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, we performed procedures at the Department of the Treasury to provide assurances on financial information that was significant to the state’s ACFR. The Department of Treasury did not consistently follow its policies and procedures for all grants awarded through the Main Street Recovery Program, which provided reimbursement from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund to eligible Louisiana...

In this performance audit, we reviewed financial activity from federal funds provided by the CARES Act and the CRRSAA. The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) received grant funding under two components of the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund: direct funding from the United States Department of Education (US DOE), provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE), allocated through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. Under the CRRSAA, MassArt received direct funding...

The audit examined Worcester State University's (WSU) use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund grants received through the CARES Act and CRRSAA. The audit also determined whether users of WSU’s Colleague Finance system (the information system containing financial records used at the university) received cybersecurity awareness training in accordance with standards issued by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security. Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance by WSU that must be reported.