Williams, Adley & Company – DC, LLP (Williams Adley), under contract with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG), has issued an Independent Accountant’s Report on U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) Detailed Accounting Report of all funds expended for National Drug Control Program activities during the previous fiscal year.
Coast Guard’s total drug control obligations for fiscal year (FY) 2021 were $1,985.649 million. This was divided between operations and support; procurement, construction and improvements; and research and development. The bulk of the obligations were for interdiction functions.
Based on its review, nothing came to Williams Adley’s attention that caused it to believe that the Coast Guard’s FY 2021 Detailed Accounting Report and related assertions are not presented in conformity with criteria in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Circular, National Drug Control Program Agency Compliance Reviews.
In prior fiscal years, the Coast Guard contributed to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) material weaknesses in internal control areas such as financial reporting and information technology controls.
However, Williams Adley found that the Coast Guard has implemented corrective action plans to remediate the long-standing internal control deficiencies, strengthen existing internal controls, and provide assurance over the fidelity of financial information.
Williams Adley also reviewed the Coast Guard’s Budget Formulation Compliance Report (BFCR) for the year ended September 30, 2021.
The Coast Guard is required to submit its summer drug budget directly to ONDCP at the same time its budget requests are provided to its agency heads. The Williams Adley review determined that the Coast Guard did not submit its summer drug budget to ONDCP directly. Rather, it submitted its summer drug budget to the DHS Budget Division Formulation Team for subsequent transmission to ONDCP.
While the process did not align to requirements, Williams Adley said that, based on the review, it was not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the BFCR or related assertions in order for them to be in compliance.