News

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Auditor of State Mary Taylor today issued a state audit of Allen County containing federal questioned costs of $115,975 for Homeland Security funds that, although spent properly, were spent outside the allotted time frame established under grant rules.

“Federal Homeland Security grant funding provides important public safety services for our communities,” said Taylor.  “It’s very important to properly adhere to grant rules so that this funding source remains secure in the future.”

The questioned costs stem from Allen County’s 2004 State Homeland Security Program Grant.  Typically, federal grant agreements outline that grant money must be spent or obligated for a specific purchase by a specific date.  For Allen County’s 2004 federal homeland security grant, the grant guidelines required the funding to be between December 1, 2003 and September 30, 2005.  Auditors found that the county charged $79,880 in expenditures to the grant outside the given time frame.  Auditors also found that the county charged $6,850 in expenditures to the 2003 State Homeland Security Grant outside the accepted time frame for that grant which was between June 27, 2003 and April 30, 2005. 

The county’s 2004 homeland security grant agreement also requires that all reimbursement requests for equipment purchases be expended by September 30, 2005.  Allen County’s reimbursement requests for $29,245 in expenditures were paid outside that reimbursement time frame.

Based on these factors Taylor’s office questioned a total of $115,975 in federal homeland security grant funding.  The audit does not indicate that grant funding was spent improperly, just that the timing of the expenditures and reimbursement request did not occur according to grant guidelines.

Generally, failure to comply with grant requirements could lead to loss of grant funding in the future or requests from the grantor to repay the awards.  Taylor’s office recommends the county review all grant letters and agreements to ensure grant requirements are properly understood and met. 

 The audit is available online at http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/AuditSearch/Reports/2007/Allen_County_05-Allen.pdf