Audit finds county needs clearer roles, procedures for grant management; board adopts recommendations

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 6 received and adopted an audit report finding that the county needs clearer roles, responsibilities and written procedures for grant management.

The audit, filed by the Director of Audits, was titled "County Needs to Establish Clear Roles, Responsibilities and Procedures for Grant Management." Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr., who addressed the board, said the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, the Comptroller's Office, the Office of Project Management and the Department of Administrative Services all need to coordinate to ensure federal and state award amounts are reported correctly.

"If some of these procedures are not delineated, put on paper and easily understood by the federal government, then it's possible that we're going to lose federal dollars over time," Johnson said, urging the board to monitor follow-up work.

The board adopted the audit report and the clerk recorded the committee recommendation as adopted (roll call recorded in the minutes). The committee had requested corrective actions and the audit contained multiple recommendations to improve the schedule of expenditures for federal awards and state award amounts.

Why it matters: the audit highlights the county's fiscal exposure when grant accounting is incomplete or inconsistent, and recommended reforms seek to reduce risk of noncompliance, improper reporting, and potential loss of state or federal grant funding.

The audit report directs responsible offices to produce updated procedures and implement the comptroller's recommendations; supervisors urged close oversight to ensure the corrective work is completed.