The Rising Tide of Federal Grant Funding

Keeping Your Local Governmental Agency
Afloat and In Compliance

Local government finds itself in a current environment of ‘high tide’ regarding the abundance of federal grant funding. Keeping your entity afloat and in compliance requires a knowledge of the life-saving tools you have at your disposal.

• Life Jacket

  The more proactive measures the public entity can take before receiving federal funding, the less likely costly and perilous mistakes will be made. Suggested action items include:

  1. Conduct a gap analysis of state and local procurement and contracting policies against the federal procurement requirements under 2 C.F.R.§§200.317 – 327. Non-federal entities must follow the most restrictive of these rules.
  2. Research and identify cooperative contracts that are well-aligned with federal procurement requirements. The original solicitation process conducted by the cooperative must follow federal rules and regulations.Know also the additional steps your entity must take for full compliance when utilizing cooperative contracts for projects funded by federal grants.
  3. Ensure your solicitation and contract templates include the most up-to-date required federal contract provisions.

   

• Lifeboat

If your entity is overwhelmed by the sudden and often turbulent onset of managing abundant federal funding, taking swift and effective measures to “evacuate” to safer ground to regroup and strategize may be required to optimize your federal funding.  Procurement’s role in this scenario includes making other team members aware of additional federal requirements such as:

• Required socioeconomic contracting steps before and during the solicitation process
• Conducting cost or price analyses for all purchases over the federal simplified acquisition threshold
• Suspension and Debarment checks before awarding contracts
• Proper documentation of contractor oversight
• Documentation requirements to survive future audits of federal grant funding expenditures

• Life Ring

In the event your entity is not accustomed to receiving a significant amount of federal funding or, in many cases, does not have the staffing or workload capacity to properly manage federal funding, immediate and expert assistance may be required to prevent costly procurement and contracting missteps.  Seek the help of “seaworthy” industry experts and consultants.  Many times, the fees associated with these services are eligible for reimbursement under the federal grant or insurance coverage.

If you’d like to take a deeper dive into preparing for some of the most problematic federal procurement compliance areas, please join Disaster Recovery Services for our session at CAPPO 2024:

Session Title: Federal Fund Procurement S.O.S: Socioeconomic Contracting, Oversight, and Suspension and Debarment

Presented by: Dr. Kim Abrego and Shelley Vineyard, Disaster Recovery Services

When: Monday, January 22, 2024
             10:45 – 11:45 am (PT)