Reports

Section 204, Public Act 67 of 2020, effective March 30, 2020, requires the Office of the Auditor General to audit the use of funds appropriate for coronavirus public health emergency – health care capacity coronavirus public health emergency, and coronavirus response fund and report to the chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees at a minimum of every month on the appropriateness of the preceding month’s expenditures until the funds are expended. In order to provide a more complete picture of the total spending on COVID-19, our audit scope includes all COVID-19 coded...

Memorandum: The Office requests the legislature add an explicit requirement in all future bills authorizing the expenditure of COVID-19 funds. The State Auditor’s Office must have access to records that relate to eligibility for and use of economic recovery grant funds.

Memorandum: There is desire to inject the CARES Act funding into the community as soon as possible. However, some aspects of this bill raise concerns about risk that deserve your consideration. Creating the program and appropriating $50 million before the Tax Department has established “a formula for determining the amount of grant awards” is a significant delegation of authority without any guidance.

Memorandum: The recently issued U.S. Treasury Coronavirus Relief Fund FAQ1 has implications for the Governor’s proposed Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. As proposed, the Vermont EIDL program to be administered by the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) establishes a perpetual revolving loan fund. However, the FAQ indicates that all loan repayments subsequent to December 30, 2020 must be returned to the U.S. Treasury.

We recommend that the City Council accept the City Auditor’s interim report on the status of internal controls for documenting COVID-19 related costs to support receipt of emergency public assistance grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).