WALLA WALLA — A recent report by the Office of the Washington State Auditor found weaknesses in Walla Walla County’s internal controls for federal funds used in 2021 to provide rental assistance and other services to those affected by the pandemic.

Internal controls are generally used to ensure contractors and fund recipients are eligible to participate in and are effectively carrying out federal programs.

The report, published March 13, reviewed financial statements and major federal award programs in 2021.

The investigation found the county did not sufficiently screen paid contractors or monitor fund recipients tasked with distributing rental assistance to households throughout the community.

The county also was operating under standards of conduct and other policies that were not up to the federal standard, according to the report.

There are no questioned costs, and the county ultimately was found to be in compliance with the requirements for the federal programs, but the deficiencies put the county at a greater risk for noncompliance and loss of federal funds.

State Auditor Pat McCarthy recommended that Walla Walla County update its policies to match federal requirements, screen contractors before awarding funds and monitor recipients as required.

Walla Walla County Auditor Karen Martin attributed the county’s shortcomings to challenges with staffing, training and difficulty managing large amounts of federal funds as part of the COVID-19 response.

Martin said the public should understand that no money was found to be missing or misappropriated. The findings were all procedural.

“It potentially could have been a problem because we weren’t doing it the way we were supposed to, but in this instance, none of that was found — it was just poor procedure,” she said.

To address the issues raised in the audit, the county plans to hire a consultant to update its policies and procedures and train the staff in managing and monitoring federal funds, she said.

The federal audit looked at four federal programs in Walla Walla County in 2021: the Coronavirus Relief Fund; the Emergency Rental Assistance Program; Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds; and Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of the Treasury programs were selected because they exceeded $750,000 apiece. Together, they accounted for $7.4 million of the $11.9 million the county spent in federal assistance in 2021.

The funds were used to support pandemic-related programs, including eviction prevention, rental assistance and quarantine and isolation housing, as well as to make up revenues lost by the county and cover other COVID-19 expenses.

Similar audit reports have been released for 36 of Washington’s 39 counties since August 2022. Each one reviews the financial statements and federal programs in 2021, and many take a specific look at COVID-19 programs because of the influx of related federal funds.

Walla Walla County has the most findings of any county thus far with five, but internal controls for federal programs were found to be insufficient in at least 15 other counties.

The investigations also turned up other types of findings in other counties.