arpa procurement requirements

Additional information about the definition of subrecipients is available in the section Distinguishing Subrecipients versus Beneficiaries. After the official bid opening requiring a review of the bid submittals and verification of the bid results by a party not involved in the bid process. Because ARP/CSLFRF in the revenue replacement category may be spent on any government service authorized under state law (assuming allowable cost items), a local government may use ARP/CSLFRF to supplant employees salaries and benefits during the award term, thus freeing up general fund or enterprise fund monies to be spent on more complex capital projects or programs. Recipients should note that SLFRF funds available under the revenue loss eligible use category generally may be used to meet the non-federal cost-share or matching requirements of other federal programs. Local governments should review the requirements, compare them to their current policies and procedures, and consult with legal counsel to evaluate. In addition, we recommend that all ARPA awardees review 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart D, as this section describes the requirements most applicable to local governments. Track and maintain records of all grant-related documents, including communications, receipts and invoices. Ensuring that the contract structure is appropriate for the goods and/or services rendered, that prices are fair based on an independent cost or price analysis, and that a cost-plus-percentage-of-cost method is not used for federally-funded contracts. Weve never been audited, so there are no benchmarks to assess our performance., Our regular business hours are third shift., We cannot remove documents from our office., Cross-charging multiple clients or departments for their staffs work, Improper employee classification e.g., junior staff hours billed at a supervisors hourly rate, Overlapping time vendor creates two or more timesheets for the employee for the same day, Schedule manipulation vendor routinely postpones or schedules jobs with higher overtime rates toward the end of the week, Over-purchasing materials for personal use, Product substitution - substituting lower-quality products for those agreed upon in the contract, Failure to apply discounts, refunds and rebates, Billing materials to one project but using for another project, Intentionally applying rates from one contract to another, Billing time and equipment rates in lump-sum, unit or fixed-price contracts. If you do not follow Chapter 30B because of federal requirements, make sure you document this in writing in your procurement file. Other important aspects to consider are the audit period, access to records and personnel, format of records, time needed, failure-to-produce penalties and notification requirements (planned versus surprise reviews). For instance, data analysis can reveal patterns in payroll expenditures or purchasing, track whether employees are following policies and procedures, or measure staff or vendor performance. Capital Funds Project website. A lock icon or https:// means youve safely connected to the official website. Jurisdictions must remain vigilant in reviewing vendor documents to ensure that they get what they need and that public funds are properly expended. Our confidential hotline is for public employees and individuals with Chapter 30B procurement questions. Federal regulations require a local jurisdiction to apply state and local procurement laws for federally funded procurements, provided that the procurements also conform to federal law and regulations. The team needs the vendors support in order to get access to records and personnel, as well as to take action on findings. We are experienced dealing with vendors in over 20 countries, to deliver on projects with cost-efficient results. Our confidential hotline is for public employees and individuals with Chapter 30B procurement questions. We will use this information to improve this page. Any purchase of equipment or real property with SLFRF funds must be consistent with the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart D. Equipment and real property acquired under this program must be used for the originally authorized purpose, unless stated otherwise by Treasury. This second article of the series discusses how to collect data and provides examples of how procurement officials can use the data. You must ensure that the vendors you are doing business with are legitimate and responsible. Some page levels are currently hidden. ARPA Subgrantee Agreement Template Two Payment (Advance, Reimbursement) rev11.3.22, ARPA Subgrantee Agreement Template Reimbursement Based rev11.3.22, ARPA Subgrantee Agreement Template 100% Advance Payment (Very Rare-Special Circumstances) rev11.3.22, ARPA Subgrantee Agreement Template 25% Advance Payment rev11.3.22, ARPA Beneficiary Agreement Template rev11.3.22, SLFRF_Subgrantee_Budget_Exhibit 3_ 11.3.2022, SLFRF_Subgrantee_Invoice_Exhibit 4_11.3.2022. Is it something you can collect in the future? Recipients that receive an aggregate amount of federal financial assistance in a given fiscal year that exceeds the Single Audit threshold are subject to the requirements in 2 CFR 200 Subpart F, Audit Requirements, unless otherwise specified in program-specific guidance. The course will have three parts, including brief overview videos, a 1-day live (Zoom) workshop, and extended daily Zoom Help Desk Office Hours the last two weeks of April (to help with implementation issues and completion of the Project & Expenditure report due by April 30). This blog post highlights the UG requirements and provides several sample policies and other implementation tools. In order to maintain the vendors trust and cooperation, the team should only ask for information necessary to achieve the goal of the audit and documents that have a true business justification. Payment reviews are a key part of contract administration, and insufficient reviews leave your jurisdiction vulnerable to improper or questionable payments to vendors. Please limit your input to 500 characters. Finally, Kara hosted SOG Office Hours on Jan. 13, 2022, and the primary topic was the Final Rule and the change in lost revenue calculations. If a local government does not already have a written nondiscrimination policy, it must adopt and implement one consistent with this guidance. We welcome non-English speakers to contact us. The smallest incongruity could lead to the discovery of a large fraud. First, your organization must clearly identify to the subrecipient: (1) that the award is a subaward of SLFRF funds; (2) any and all compliance requirements for use of SLFRF funds; and (3) any and all reporting requirements for expenditures of SLFRF funds. As part of its contract administration process, the housing authority discovered the improper charges when it reviewed its invoices closely. Purchases made from a vendor pursuant to a General Services Administration federal supply schedule, available for use by governmental bodies, comply with the requirements of Chapter 30B. Program Income. Suspicious invoices: even or round invoice amounts, as well as non-sequential invoices, are red flags. two (2) subrecipients to carry these programs. To avoid such pitfalls, your jurisdiction should approve and implement a policy outlining how to procure towing and storage services, even though it is exempt from Chapter 30B. Noncompetitive procurement is only allowed if certain criteria are met. If the data is not in one of these formats, do not despair! Webthe provision of police, fire, and other public safety services (e.g., purchasing a fire truck or police vehicles, purchasing other equipment, covering salaries of public safety personnel). When was the last time your client revised their procurement contracts? Financial compliance audits examine whether the vendor is billing appropriately. Some of these are associated with a particular project; others are associated with the entire grant award. Accordingly, your organization should develop written policies and procedures for subrecipient monitoring and risk assessment and maintain records of all award agreements identifying or otherwise documenting subrecipients compliance obligations. The jurisdiction placed an order with the vendor for these supplies because of the competitive low per-unit price. Broadly speaking, data is any fact about an object or concept. Recipients must implement robust internal controls and effective monitoring to ensure compliance with the Cost Principles, which are important for building trust and accountability. We also plan to give an overview of some of these techniques in the next article on data in an upcoming edition of the OIG Bulletin. Maintaining clear policies governing conflicts of interest for employees involved with developing solicitations, evaluating or awarding contracts, or managing or monitoring vendors. 2 CFR 200.320(c). One key oversight tool is the vendor audit. 1681 et seq., and the Departments implementing regulations, 31 CFR part 28; Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Public Law 94-135, 42 U.S.C. Such individuals and organizations are beneficiaries and not subject to audit pursuant to the Single Audit Act and 2 C.F.R. Program income does not include interest earned on advances of Federal funds, rebates, credits, discounts, or interest on rebates, credits, or discounts. Jurisdictions should build on these federal requirements to ensure that grant recipients spend grant money appropriately by implementing their own comprehensive monitoring and reporting policies. 5. Those requirements include ensuring that entities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Treasury do not deny benefits or services, or otherwise discriminate Indirect costs are general overhead costs of an organization where a portion of such costs are allocable to the SLFRF award such as the cost of facilities or administrative functions like a directors office. L. No. If you are still unclear about the requirements for your particular source of funding, we recommend that you contact the grantor or federal funding entity for clarification. endstream endobj 560 0 obj <. This can lead to drawing incorrect conclusions about the data and documentation available. Remember to consider whether your data gives you enough information to help you make decisions. As you may know, under Section 1(b)(21) of Chapter 30B contracts for the towing and storage of motor vehicles are exempt from the Uniform Procurement Act. Treasury may request that recipients submit data for post-award compliance reviews, including information such as a narrative describing their Title VI compliance status. The results of the survey can be transferred to a spreadsheet. If so, are there differences between the local and federal requirements that may be in conflict? (Please note the email notification for new blog posts from the SOG is not functioning correctly at this time.). Identifying the key vendor personnel is also an important part of the audit. The prevention and detection of fraud, waste and abuse of public funds always an important issue for government entities is even more critical now that jurisdictions are receiving billions of additional dollars in ARPA funding. For example, you can analyze vendor performance using vendor quotations, proposal evaluations and past invoices. Impaired independence can hinder an auditors professional judgment or create the appearance that his professional judgment has been compromised. 117- 2 (March 11, 2021). Suggestions are presented as an open option list only when they are available. Nevertheless, the vendor generated substantial revenue from the contract because drivers had to pay the vendor for towing and storage charges. Remember to check debarment lists, as well as the Secretary of the Commonwealths business registration database or a local municipal clerks office to determine if a business is properly registered to conduct business within Massachusetts. Extending the contract to include additional time may be deemed noncompetitive, because the contract expired before services began. Pursuant to the SLFRF Award Terms and Conditions, recipients are permitted to charge both direct and indirect costs to their SLFRF award as administrative costs as long as they are accorded consistent treatment per 2 CFR 200.403. 11246. 2000d-1 et seq., and the Departments implementing regulations, 31 CFR part 22; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), Public Law 93-112, as amended by Public Law 93-516, 29 U.S.C. WebDepending on the site host organizations procurement requirements, a formal solicitation process may be needed to purchase and install charging infrastructure. For example, if a vendor holds 15 contracts with a municipality, thevendor can more easily bill against other contracts and fraudulently charge the government. 0 Appendix 1: Allowable Use Matrix Background On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law. If a local government received less than $10 million in CSLFRF funds, it may take the For example, a municipality may have an existing contract for providing workforce development services that they wish to use starting July 1, 2021, but the contract expired in March 2021. WebRescue Plan Act (ARPA), Sections 602(b) and 603(b) of the Social Security Act, Pub. If procurement is only possible through non-competitive methods, municipalities will need to justify use of a non-competitive procurement process, only permissible when one of the following conditions are met: the item is below the micro-purchase threshold established by the municipality; the item is only available from a single source; the public exigency or emergency will not permit a delay from publicizing a competitive solicitation; or after solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate. The procurement code mandates city responses be mailed to the protestor and all other applicants so as to inform them of the ability to appeal the decision related to the protest. In addition, the vendor did not notify the housing authority before adding the fee to the invoice. Bid manipulation can also include allowing a vendor to submit bid documents after the public deadline or disclosing offers made by one vendor to another before the bids are opened publicly. 128, 40064-40068. Did you know reporting is not the only requirement for use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds? Federal Uniform Guidance rules apply as well. Uniform Guidance? Never heard of it? Dont worry, weve got you covered. The standard allowance is available to all counties, including ones with allocations under $10 million. Thus, the jurisdiction created a ready market for a single vendor without ensuring that drivers were receiving a fair price for the towing and storage services. Mass.gov is a registered service mark of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The team should consider gaining direct access to the vendors systems to facilitate its review. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is pleased to announce the ARPA Regional Jail Equipment Grant Program, funded through a state appropriation of federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). During this session, We also will be holding at least two courses this spring: April 4, 2022: Basics of ARP/CSLFRF and UG for Local Government Attorneys and Grant Managers. The audit scope and appropriate approach depend on the type of audit performed. A contracting agency is free to decide that a particular award need not be restricted to professional engineering firms. Direct questions related to design and construction procurement to the Attorney Generals Office. ApplyingBenfordsLaw is another way to find outliers in your data that should be flagged for further review. Additional changes to compliance and reporting guidelines, including any clarifications on Uniform Guidance requirements, will be addressed in Compliance and Reporting Guidance and the User Guide. There are no requirements for contracts or expenditures of less than $10,000. However, using ARPA funds for contracts in excess of $10,000 triggers the mandatory contract provisions in 2 CFR Part 200, Appendix II. Most contract provisions are required only on those exceeding $100,000 or those for construction projects of any amount. Secure websites use HTTPS certificates. The Office of the Inspector General often reviews vendor invoices and other documents as part of its duty to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse. Determine if billings are accurate and in compliance with contract terms. Equipment and Real Property Management. Subrecipients are subject to an audit pursuant to the Single Audit Act and 2 CFR part 200, subpart F regarding audit requirements, whereas contractors are not subject to an audit pursuant to the Single Audit Act and 2 CFR part 200, subpart F regarding audit requirements. Including right-to-audit clauses in vendor contracts and then performing effective audits can help reduce these risks. Please include this language separately in the bid solicitation. Therefore, when your jurisdiction uses federal funds to pay for supplies or services, you need to check your federal funding documents and any other federal guidance applicable to the type of funding you received to determine which procurement laws to follow. The Uniform Guidance outlines the requirements that pertain to program income at 2 CFR 200.307. The state agency or municipality should first identify the goal of the audit, which will determine the type of audit to perform. However, the audit team should be careful not to become too friendly with their auditees. (A) statutory restrictions under the ARPA, which include: offsetting a reduction in net tax revenue, and deposits into pension funds, and (B) other restrictions on use, which include: debt service and replenishing reserves, settlements and judgments, and general restrictions. (See Final Rule pp. two (2) subrecipients to carry these programs. To ensure that the cost items within an eligible project are proper, a local government must adopt and implement an Allowable Costs and Cost Principles Policy. These risk assessments may include factors such as prior experience in managing Federal funds, previous audits, personnel, and policies or procedures for award execution and oversight. WebARPA established the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF), which is a a program that provides funding over a two-year period to all states, counties, and For example, a municipality may have an engineering and construction firm contracted to build a new community center and wants to use the same firm to perform citywide water and sewer infrastructure projects as permitted by the CLFRF. Including appropriate federal requirements or language in the executed contract, including bonding provisions, Contract Provisions for Non-Federal Entity Contracts Under Federal Awards. You skipped the table of contents section. The following are sample policies and other implementation tools for many of these award terms and UG requirements. Adhering to local procurement and contracting policies, standards, or procedures, including applicable local or state laws. Treasurys final rule, program guidance, and the Uniform Guidance outline the types of costs that are allowable, including certain audit costs. Please do not include personal or contact information. All other recipients must follow 2 CFR 200.318, General procurement standards, through 200.327, Contract provisions. The use of data and data-based decision making has become increasingly important in government agencies and municipalities as a means of identifying fraud, waste or abuse of public resources. Typical cost items include compensation and fringe benefits, materials and supplies, equipment and other capital, consultants/professional services, audits, communications, insurance, maintenance and repair, and rental costs. Of Massachusetts you must ensure that the vendors support in order to access. Document this in writing in your procurement file determine the type of performed! $ 10,000 vendor is billing appropriately not to become too friendly with auditees... 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