March 28, 2013
Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County – Weatherization Assistance Program Funds Provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the Weatherization Assistance Program (Weatherization Program) received $5 billion to reduce energy consumption for low-income households through energy efficient upgrades. The State of California received $186 million in Recovery Act Weatherization Program funding, of which $7.7 million was allocated to the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (San Bernardino) to weatherize 1,931 homes. The State of California Department of Community Services and Development (California) was responsible for administering Weatherization Program grants, including funds provided to San Bernardino. The Department of Energy’s (Department) Office of Inspector General contracted with Lopez and Company, LLP, to conduct an examination of San Bernardino's guidelines applicable to the Weatherization Program. The examination found, for instance, that San Bernardino requested inaccurate reimbursements from California for weatherization work. Additionally, San Bernardino used 13 of the 15 vehicles it purchased with Recovery Act Weatherization Program funds in support of other Federally funded or non-Federally funded weatherization activities instead of Recovery Act related weatherization activities, as required. As a result, $393,300 in expenditures was questioned. The issues identified occurred, in part, because San Bernardino lacked a process to reconcile actual labor hours incurred to hours billed to ensure accurate reimbursements. Further, San Bernardino did not maintain documented justification for two sole source procurements, as required. In response to the findings, the Department agreed with the recommendations and proposed corrective actions to improve the administration of the Weatherization Program and to resolve questioned costs.
Topic: Financial Assistance