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State audit finds no findings on Twentynine Palms' Prop 68 grants for visitor center and trail
Summary
Finance director Abigail Hernandez told council that the California Department of Finance performance audit of two Prop 68 grants — $2,000,000 for a cultural/Joshua Tree Visitor Center and $901,850 for a channel trail — reported no findings and confirmed compliance with grant agreements.
The Twentynine Palms finance director told council the California Department of Finance’s performance audit of two Proposition 68 grants found the city’s expenditures and deliverables complied with grant agreements and reported no audit findings.
Abigail Hernandez said the city received a $2,000,000 Prop 68 grant in April 2020 for the cultural center and Joshua Tree Visitor Center at Freedom Plaza, which the city completed in June 2022. In January 2021 the city received a $901,850 grant for phase one of a channel trail; that project was completed in April (year not specified in the presentation). Hernandez described the audit objectives as (1) verifying that grant expenditures were allowable and used for the stated projects and (2) confirming grant deliverables and reporting requirements were met. “Based on the procedures performed and evidence gathered, we obtained reasonable assurance that the claimed grant expenditures…comply with the grant agreement requirements,” she said.
Hernandez told the council the audit was a random selection by the state, involved interviews with city staff and the city’s contractor, and was more intensive than the city’s annual financial audit. The council thanked Hernandez and her team; one councilmember called the absence of findings a “huge accomplishment” and praised staff diligence in obtaining and tracking nearly $3 million in combined grant awards.
The council received the presentation; no formal action was required for the audit report.
