FEMA Should Recover $413,074 of Public Assistance Grant Funds Awarded to Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee, for a May 2010 Flood

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (Tennessee) did not ensure Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee (County) always accounted for and expended grant funds according to Federal regulations and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines. The County received a net grant award of $70.3 million for damages resulting from a May 2010 flood. We audited and reviewed 70 projects totaling $26.6 million — 62 percent — of the $43.1 million awarded for permanent work. Because of the complexity of the projects and the dollar amount of the award, we divided the audit into two phases. In this second phase, we focused on project awards totaling $43.1 million the County received for permanent work, except for seven small projects with contract costs totaling $2,271 related to emergency work.