September 3, 2019
PRESENT: David Burns, Luke Shorty
Members of the Financial Oversight Task Force gathered for a work session by teleconference at 4pm.
Funding status. The infographs showing Commission Support, Training Technical Assistance, and Volunteer Generation Fund were reviewed. Showing data by the month proved to be messy so data is displayed by the quarter. One graph shows income accompanied by expenses. All data was as of June 30 (if it was available from accounting). The members asked about the differing timelines. Maryalice explained that CNCS has moved away from strict 12 month awards and budget periods lately. Everyone is still adjusting to the overlapping awards and funding with timelines that go beyond a year. The graphs will be updated to add any missing June data and distributed to the Commissioners in September.
Concerns about OIG audit. The OIG audit team sent what it said was the final documentation request August 14 and the Commission was asked for additional documentation on match. The concern is about notes in the file indicating the audit team is looking to disallow activities and funds that supported Senior Corps. There were also requests for timesheets for consultants who donated services. Timesheets are not customary nor required by the Uniform Code. Maryalice noted she just wants the members to be aware that the draft findings could include disallowances that are errors. Her response to the OIG team included citations from both federal and state law.
Increased costs. As a point of information, the committee noted the state employees union and government finalized a contract that impacts Commission employees. There is a 3% increase on September 1, 2019 and another 3% increase in December 2020.
Second point of information is the state risk management division did an audit of coverage this summer and discovered the board has not been covered by liability insurance. No one can explain why, especially because they have provided the Commission with insurance certificates for rentals over the years. The situation was rectified but a new insurance bill of $1,800 had to be paid. The premium going forward will be about the same.
Change in Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. The Commission uses the Dept of Education’s indirect rate and that decreased by 2% to 7.9% as of July 1. Their cognizant agency is the US Dept of Education and the rate is set annually. For the Commission, this means half our January-December operation will be under the old rate and half under the new.
Developing 2020 operating budget. Each of the last two years, CNCS has issued the directions for applying for the Commission Support Grant with a very tight due date that didn’t cover enough time for the Commission to review and approve a budget. Expecting the same situation this year, Maryalice proposed the budget be developed in October, reviewed by Financial Oversight that month, and put on the November 1 agenda for action by Commissioners. Members agreed that timeline seems best.
There being no other discussion items, the members ended the meeting at 4:38 pm.