TULSA, Okla. — In an audit requested by Mayor G.T. Bynum, City Auditor Cathy Carter found several missteps by the City of Tulsa as it disbursed COVID-relief funds.
Tulsa received $87.8 million in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) in March 2021.
The funds were a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and came with detailed guidelines government agencies must follow as they hand out money to local organizations.
In the City of Tulsa's Audit Committee's regular meeting on July 27, the committee discussed the audit's findings with Grants and Contract Manager Alisa Dougless.
The audit first found City officials didn't disclose potential conflicts of interest to the U.S. Treasury as required. The officials did, however, disclose the conflicts to other City officials and recused themselves from decisions that were potential conflicts of interest.
In response to this, the City now has a Conflict of Interest Statement that satisfies all requirements that will be filled out and signed in any real or perceived conflicts of interest.
The second misstep found that the City didn't conduct risk assessments before awards were handed out but after.
According to the audit, the staff in place during the initial awards process is no longer in place. New staff quickly came into compliance, and the City hired a temporary employee with years of experience in administering federally funded sub-recipient agreements to help.
The audit said the City will complete appropriate assessments before and after contracts are awarded in the future.
The audit also called for more monitoring of sub-recipients. A sample of 17 of the 74 sub-recipients contracts awarded found that 64% had not submitted required reports or submitted incomplete reports.
82% of the files in the sample group were missing some form of documentation and didn't have records of monitoring.
"This does not mean monitoring did not occur, but there are no records to prove it was done," the audit reads.
Also, six awardees in the sample group had statuses of "No Contract" or "Declined Funding" and still had funding allocated to them.
"Monitoring of sub-recipients is essential, especially those unfamiliar with federal laws and regulations," the audit reads.
The audit noted the difficulty monitoring staff has had getting timely reports from sub-recipients.
"Staff understands the timelines associated with the ARPA program and is diligently working to ensure that all available funding is obligated by the required deadline of December 31, 2024," the audit reads.
The Office of the City Auditor recommends the City hire more monitoring staff to ensure everything is documented properly.
Another misstep found in the audit is the City had no strategy, goals or plans included in its annual Recovery Plan report to the federal government.
The audit says they believe the required elements were included in the report, but wasn't labeled. The City has since outlined its strategies and goals and will include it properly in future reports, according to the audit.
A final finding discovered that premium pay had been reported incorrectly.
Premium pay was to be given to essential workers — meaning they weren't working from home and were regularly engaging with the public, patients or coworkers.
"Premium pay information reported to Treasury includes a retention bonus for non-sworn employees and hiring stipends. These types of expenditures do not qualify as premium pay. Salary stipends paid to employees who are not essential workers or were not employed at the time of the pandemic do not qualify for premium pay," the audit reads.
The audit recommends the City finance staff reviews the calculations of premium pay to ensure the City records align with what was given to the U.S. Treasury. Any amount incorrectly reported should be corrected.
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