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HomeMy WebLinkAbout121712_ca01~ crosctu neenua Commissioners Office JEFFERSON COl!NT1' BOARD OF COLNTY COM1~11SSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST TO: Board of Count.' Commissioners Yhilip ~lorle},County Administrator FROI\1: Leslie Locke, Dcputy~ Clerk of the Board DATE: December 17, 2012 SUBJECT: RF.SOLU"1'I01 N{). _ re: Adopting a Counh•n ide Grant Yolicy STATEMENT OF ISSUE: 1'be Jelierson County .Audimr's Office nas drafted a Counntvide Grant Policy to comply tcith Federal regulation, and to assure uttiYOnnity among County Officesr'Departmentlsl. 't~„~ ~ol:~J w.-~ c~/o..,rCo~~ in CfJalS.tl ~4Y W5~ Gr-~1 //1a ry.~f'S ~([,M G.~<'-~-P-:.t ~I C%~K}y GYfJ~.rl lh ~'!~. RECO~I~IFNnaTION: J Approve RESOLl:TI01\ rc: adopting a Cotmntitide Grans Policy REVIE~i'F•,D Bl': -~ ~ ~ ~"~' iz/.~L tg Morley, Cou y Admini, trato Date STATE OF WASHING"I'ON Couny of Jefferson In the ylatter of Adopting A } Counh-tvide Grant Policy } RESOLUTION NO. WHF.RE.~tS, the ,Ieflerson County Board of Connnissioners recoanizc the need to develop a Countywide grants policy to ensure compliance and operate under Federal regulations: and WHEREAS. grants fornt an important part of County programs and provide revenue 1'or projects and other activities: and WHEREAS, Jefferson C.'ounty has established a Grants Manascntent Team and Handbook in order for County staff to problem solve and assure uniformity anion; County Of6ces'llepartments in processing grants: and WHEREAS. Federal regulations require that all grants arc identified, accounted for and reported correctly: and :~'OI~Y; THER6/•'ORE, BE IT RESOL vED, that the Board of Count}' Commissioners hereby adopt tr Countywide Grant Policy as "Attachment A" to this Resolution. APPROVED this 1 T"' day of December. 2012. JEFFERSON COL~TY SEAi.: BOA\RD OF COMMISSIONERS John Austin. Chair A"fT'EST: Phil Johnson. Member Rains Randall Deputy Clerk of the Board David Sullivan. Member Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Policy Attachment A °" JEFFERSON COUNTY ~. ~`~` ^ (%~ ,, r~ ~ Grants -Policy and Procedure sse ~GSe The purpose of the Jefferson County Grant Policy is to provide procedures relating to the requirements for application and contracts for grants to ensure consistent process when applying for, managing, billing and accounting for grants funding. Grants form an important part of the County programs and provide revenue for projects and ulher activities. Strategies for funding level of service standards in the Jefferson County [omprehensive Plan include aggressively using grant funds as initial funding sources for capital facilities. The Strategic Plan includes leverage of local dollars with federal, state and foundation funds to supplement services and/or activities in the best interests of our citizens. Grant restrictions and guidelines require that grants be closely monitored to ensure compliance and thereby maintain the County's ability to continue to utilize grants. 2. APPLICABILITY This policy applies to all Jefferson County Offices/departments and to all county officials and their staff during the fiscal administration of Federal and State grants awards and agreements. It is not meant to be exhaustive as there may be laws or regulations, other county policies and/or grant specific policies that may apply to a particular grant application or grant acceptance. 3. DEFINITIONS Accruals- pending revenue for work completed or sales made in one year, whether billed or not billed, that is not received until the next year. Indirect Costs-costs associated with the administrative and general functions of County government that support direct services of a grant or fund. Indirect costs include such items as cost of facilities, utilities, accounting and payroll, information technology, infrastructure, etc. County Official -elected official and/or appointed department head. Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Policy Attachment A 4. AUTHORITIES All grant contracts will be approved in accordance with the County's contracting policy and procedures. Upon direction from the Board of Commissioners or the county administrator, grant applications may be completed, signed and submitted by county officials. All County Officials are hereby authorized to complete, sign and submit grant applications. 5. OPPORTUNITY & ANALYSIS When deciding whether or not to apply for a grant, the Department must evaluate various factors that may impact grant viability. Some factors to consider evhen determining if a grant is appropriate to pursue include: • weighing the costs of managing a grant against the benefits that the grant provides • evaluating restrictions that may be imposed by a grant • ensuring that a grant is a good match for the project The grant search process is generally as follows: I. Search for Grants -The grants coordinator actively searches for available grants and notifies the appropriate manager(s) of opportunities. Project managers and division managers often become aware of grant opportunities as well. Grant opportunities are communicated among staff. II. Notify Division Manager - When a grant opportunity arises, the grants coordinator (or other person who knows about the grant} will bring it to the attention of management with sufficient information for the management to evaluate. III. Convene Strategy Meeting -Depending on the nature of the grant, the next step is to convene a meeting of the potentially involved parties to discuss whether the grant should be pursued. This would normally involve the person who investigated the grant, the grants coordinator, management, and any other applicable personnel. IV. Prepare aRecommendation - If it appears the grant is worth pursuing, a recommendation with all of the applicable information will be made to the department Director. V. Apply for Grant - If approval to pursue the grant is received from the department Director, staff will be assigned to apply for the grant. The grants coordinator may be assigned to assist with and/or to develop portions of the application. 6. GRANT APPLICATION Completion of grant applications is the responsibility of the County Official. Applications shall include direct costs when allowed. Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Polity Attachment A Before the grant application is submitted to the granting agency, it is to be routed for review with all applicable grant specific information in a summary memorandum as follows: Project Manager/Grant Writer Grants Coordinator (if not the writer) Division Manager Accounting Manager Director Board of County Commissioners (If required by grant.) Applications shall be signed and submitted by the County Official. Applications requiring signature of the County's executive authority shall be signed by the board chair or the county administrator after approval of the application by the County Commission. 7. GRANT CONTRACTS REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL & EXECUTION Prior to acceptance of any funding or expenditure of funds on any grant activity on any successful application, a written contract is required. Approval of grant contracts will be done in accordance with Jefferson County s Contracting Policy and Procedure. A copy of the signed pre-application questionnaire and a completed budget modification form or budget change form (if contract requires modification of the county budget) must be submitted to the County Commission with the contract. The executed grant agreement will be kept with the project file, with a copy provided to the grants coordinator, accounting manager and Auditor's office. Grant amendment approval process will follow the same process as the original grant approval. 8. GRANT REQUIREMENT COMPLIANCE County officials are responsible for compliance with all aspects of grant requirements, including monitoring to ensure that grant activities are properly accomplished, accurate grant accounting and tracking, and ensuring that requests for reimbursement are accurate and submitted on schedule, or as soon as possible after completion of grant activity. 9. FILE MAINTENANCE AND PUBLIC RECORDS ACT RESPONSIBILITY An original grant contract, and any approved amendments are retained by the Clerk of the Board, Commissioners' office. The official grant file including a copy of the signed contact and all documents associated with the grant, including but not limited to the contract and amendments, applications, pre-application questionnaire, activity reports, Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Policy Attachment A requests for reimbursement, fiscal reports, and other correspondence will be maintained by the initiating department. Any destruction of these records will be in accordance with the State of Washington approved retention schedule. Public disclosure requests regarding grants will be referred to the initiating department for coordination of public records gathering, exemption log and release. 10. GRANT TRACKING & BILLINGS All grant applications and awards will be tracked by project manager. The division manager will be responsible for assigning the grant to a project manager. It will be the project manager's responsibility to ensure that all grant requirements are followed. It is imperative to the billing/reimbursement process that all grant expenditures are tracked using a project number specific to the grant, and/or work order numbers, assigned to the grant. Multiple grants on a project can be identified through the grant specific project numbers, and/or work order numbers, or the creation of a spreadsheet detailing expenditures and how they are reimbursed by each grant. It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure all billings are done on at (east a quarterly basis or more frequently. If there is reason, a project manager may elect to defer a grant billing to a later quarter with memo documentation to the file with a copy to Accounting. Atypical example of deferment would be that there are not enough expenses in the quarter to justify a grant billing. On some projects (i.e.; construction) it is recommended to bill on a monthly basis to keep from depleting cash reserves in a fund. Grant billings will be routed with all necessary backup information including, expenditure reports and any other documentation, necessary to show compliance with the grant agreement. The grant billings should include a summary of previous bills, funds remaining and an updated spending plan for the project. The grant agreement does NOT need to be routed with the billing. The Washington State Auditor requires that a separate work order be used to track ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) funded expenditures in order to distinguish them from local and/or other funding sources. The amount charged to ARRA work orders must match the ARRA grant amount. Quarters for ouarterly billings are as follows: First quarter ends March 31; Second quarer ends June 30; Third quarter ends September 30; Fourth quarter ends December 31. Expenditures are typically posted by the end of the following month at which time the grant billing can be prepared. Many federal grants require billings at the end of the 3~tl quarter to coincide with the end of the federal fiscal year. All grant revenues will be deposited to revenue accounts specific to the grant and grant year. The Auditors accounting staff will create and maintain revenue numbers that ensure identification of grants. Reimbursements for grant activities performed in one calendar year and not actually received until the next calendar year are considered accruals. Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Policy Attachment A 31. INDIRECT COSTS All grant applications and contracts will include charges from indirect costs to the maximum amount allowed in accordance with the County's cost allocation plan and the specific grant rules. If a department's indirect methodology is accepted by a granting agency, departments may use the approved calculated rate for that department. 12. GRANT REPORTING The project manager is responsible for understanding the grant reporting requirements, completing reports and submitting all reports on time. 13. YEAR-END COUNTY REPORTING The County Auditor requires that ayear-end Financial Assistance Worksheet (Attachment 1) be completed for each federal or state grant used during the calendar year. The Accounting office will send out the required form with a deadline to all departments annually. 14. GRANT CLOSEOUT The project manager shall inform the grants manager and the accounting manager when the grant is closed. Final billings shall be noted as such. The project manager will review the grant agreement to ensure all required work and reporting has been completed in accordance with the grant agreement. The grant file will be neat and orderly with all required information associated with the grant. Extraneous information such as draft versions will be removed from the file. Upon grant closeout, the grant file will be left in a manner allowing anyone to review it and easily find any information needed. The grant file will be subject to the applicable Records Retention Rules. Resolution No. Adopting a Countywide Grant Policy Attachment A ATTACHMENT fUNDING SOURCE: OTHER PR'rog~om Income ;O~o- ors MATCHING ENTITY FUNDS: TOiAI PROGRAM REVENUE IN 2009: Prepore~ or•