The District of Columbia’s finance office has asked to extend the deadline on a crucial audit of city agencies used by the federal government in determining the city’s worthiness for multimillion-dollar grants.
Finance office spokeswoman Maryann Young downplayed the request to file the so-called single audit on Sept. 30, saying that D.C. traditionally doesn’t file the report until the fall.
But one of the reasons that the federal Department of Education designated the city’s stricken schools “high risk” for government money was its inability to file mandated reports and audits on time. Federal law requires the single audit to be filed by June 30.
The audit examines every grant given by the Department of Health and Human Services to city agencies — including the schools — and reports back on the accounting problems found by the auditors.
An official at the Department of Education told The Examiner on condition of anonymity that the agency stresses the audit be done properly and will tolerate slipped deadlines, but tardiness often is a sign of bigger problems in the bureaucracy.
The schools receive about 10 percent of their $1 billion budget from the federal government every year. School officials have been hard-pressed to explain where the money goes. More than a decade’s worth of the single audits have been critical of the system’s cash management, and there are at least six active federal fraud investigations pending.
The Department of Education placed the schools on the “high risk” list last year, endangering nearly $120 million in grants for about 51,000 students.
Young said the finance office has agreed to pay audit firm BDO Seidman LLP $1.1 million for the audit. The deadline for the report, “by agreement,” Young said, was set at Sept. 30.
D.C. Chief Finance Office Natwar Gandhi has blamed school officials for the problems there, saying they have ignored his advice on reforming the system.
He told The Examiner in a recent interview that he is “staying up nights” trying to get the schools off the “high risk” list.
But an increasing chorus of critics, like Washington Lawyers Committee schools expert Mary Levy, have said that Gandhi must take some of the blame for the continuing problems in the schools because his office is tasked with monitoring the school budget.
The education department official said that the schools are likely to remain “high risk” for the next three to four years, even if all goes well.
Nearly 20 high-ranking school finance officers have left their jobs in the last few months, including the comptroller and the auditor assigned to get the schools off the “high risk” list.
Anyone with information on the city finance office or the schools may call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail [email protected]
