Concerns about E-rate funding have ‘received considerable attenti...
Concerns about E-rate funding have “received considerable attention,” FCC Inspector Gen. Walker Feaster told Congress in a report. He said both the Commission and Congress have paid more attention to potential problems in the E-rate grant distribution process, but…
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the IG’s office needs more resources to conduct more comprehensive audits. “Until resources and funding are available to provide adequate independent oversight for the USF program, we are unable to give the Chairman, Congress, and the public an appropriate level of assurance that the program is protected from fraud, waste and abuse,” the report said. There have been 135 E-rate audits, said the report, done by the FCC IG’s office and Universal Service Administrative Co. internal and contract auditors. The audits found that E-rate beneficiaries weren’t compliant in 36% of the cases, leading to recommended fund recoveries of nearly $17 million. The IG reported that in its 5 audits of E-rate recipients, 4 were noncompliant. In one case, the IG said $934,000 could be recovered from the United Talmudical Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y. The school didn’t pay “the entire non-discounted portion of FY 1999 funding on a timely basis,” the IG said. The office also said there was no documentation supporting a competitive bidding process and the school was over-billed for some services. The IG found similar problems with other schools, including the Children’s Storefront School in Harlem, N.Y., where $491,000 in potential recoverable funds were found.