Doylestown, Pa. — Bucks County avoided repaying federal COVID-19 relief funds after Treasury auditors accepted replacement expenses tied to public health and safety payroll costs, resolving more than $111,000 in questioned pandemic spending.
A final determination letter issued January 13 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General said Bucks County corrected all issues identified during a federal review of the county’s Coronavirus Relief Fund spending under the CARES Act.
Federal auditors had previously identified $111,423 in unsupported and ineligible questioned costs connected to payroll expenses, indirect costs, prepaid subscriptions, and a grant program reviewed through the Treasury Department’s GrantSolutions reporting system.
The county later submitted documentation for eligible replacement expenses between July and October 2025, allowing Treasury officials to close the matter without demanding repayment, according to the determination letter.
Treasury review flagged payroll and indirect cost issues
The questioned costs originated from an earlier desk review conducted by an independent public accounting firm under Treasury oversight.
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According to the January determination letter, auditors identified:
- $94,172 in ineligible costs tied to prepaid subscriptions and indirect costs under the “contracts greater than or equal to $50,000” category
- $12,251 in ineligible payroll-related costs under “aggregate payments to individuals”
- $5,000 in unsupported costs tied to a grant program reported under “aggregate reporting less than $50,000”
The CARES Act restricted Coronavirus Relief Fund spending to expenses directly tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency that were not already included in government budgets approved before March 27, 2020.
Federal oversight reviews across the country have focused heavily on documentation standards, payroll classifications, indirect costs, and whether governments properly tracked pandemic-related expenditures.
Key Points
• Treasury auditors questioned $111,423 in Bucks County COVID relief spending
• Findings involved payroll costs, prepaid subscriptions, and indirect expenses
• County resolved the issues using replacement public safety payroll expenses
County used replacement expenses to resolve findings
Rather than repay the questioned amount, Bucks County submitted documentation showing other eligible public health and safety payroll expenses that qualified under federal relief rules.
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Treasury officials said those replacement expenses fully addressed the questioned costs identified during the review.
The determination letter did not accuse Bucks County officials of fraud or intentional misuse of pandemic funds. Instead, the issues centered on technical compliance requirements tied to allowable spending categories and documentation standards.
The federal government distributed billions of dollars nationwide through the Coronavirus Relief Fund during the pandemic, leading to years of audits and desk reviews examining how states, counties, and municipalities tracked and reported expenditures.
Many local governments have faced scrutiny over payroll allocations, duplicate reporting, indirect costs, and incomplete records tied to rapidly deployed pandemic aid programs.
Treasury closes corrective action review
The Treasury Office of Inspector General formally concluded that Bucks County’s corrective actions resolved the findings from the original desk review identified as OIG-CA-24-019.
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The January 13 letter was addressed to Bucks County Chief Operating Officer Margaret A. McKevitt in Doylestown and signed by Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audit Pauletta Battle.
With the replacement expense documentation accepted, the review now appears administratively closed with no additional enforcement action announced.
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