- Project Close-Out Reminders
- Fiscal Year 15 Agreements
-
Grant Fiscal Monitoring
Several
ENRTF and OHF projects are set to end at the end of this June. If this applies
to your project, here are a few friendly reminders to keep in mind as you prepare to
close-out your grant:
- Your agreement with the State
of Minnesota states that a final billing should be submitted within 30 days of
the end of the program period or the expiration of the grant.
- Final reimbursement request
cannot be paid until your final report has been received and approved by
LCCMR or LSOHC staff.
- All project expenses must be
incurred and delivered by June 30, 2014 or
earlier in order to be eligible for reimbursement unless your project includes
restoration or enhancement work with a separate end date in your agreement with
the State.
-
If you have unused funds and
your final report has been received and approved by LCCMR or LSOHC staff, your
assigned Grants Specialist will be contacting your Authorized Representative to verify that you
have concluded spending for this project prior to cancelling your
appropriation. The unused funds will then be returned to the appropriate
fund (OHF or ENRTF) for future allocations.
- If you purchased land or conservation
easements during your project, please make sure all post-closing documents have
been submitted to your assigned Grants Specialist. Your Grants Specialist will
contact you to acquire any missing documentation prior to officially closing
out your project.
As
always, we appreciate your assistance, planning, and proactive communication.
DNR
Grants Unit staff has been conducting separate, formal fiscal grant monitoring
for a year now! This monitoring is done in accordance with the Office of Grants
Management Policy 08-10. We would like to thank you for your cooperation and
the insights you have provided during our first year of this monitoring.
If you
have not participated in a monitoring visit yet, you likely will soon. The OGM
policy requires that all grantees who have projects valued at over $250,000
will be visited on an annual basis while grantees who have projects valued at
$50,000-$250,000 will be monitored at least once during the term of the
agreement. Appropriations of less than $50,000 are not monitored in this
manner. If you have multiple projects, we try to cover them all in one
monitoring session.
Monitoring
is conducted either through a site visit or a desk review. Often additional
information that is required to be kept on file is requested before the
monitoring (subcontracting paperwork, proof of payment, etc.) for prior review
and subsequent discussion during monitoring. Other topics of discussion
may include: the reimbursement process, conflict of interest, organization
fiscal controls, capital equipment and/or land purchases, and feedback for the
DNR Grants Unit team.
As
always, if you have questions, please contact your Grants Specialist.
The
Grants Unit has started preparing contracts for fiscal year 2015 ENRTF and OHF
pass-through appropriation recipients. Agreements
will be sent out as soon as possible following work/accomplishment plan
approval. Please be aware that contract and attachment templates must be
finalized, reviewed by multiple parties, and funds encumbered prior to sending.
With this in mind, we appreciate your patience as we work toward sending
out agreements as soon as possible.
If you
are the recipient of a FY15 appropriation, please review your agreement and its
attachments carefully. If you’ve had a project previously, please do not assume
that everything is the same; we like to limit changes as possible, but there
will likely be some necessary updates based on decisions made during session or
language to provide better clarity and guidance.
More
information on these changes, and on our third annual fall training session,
will be provided in the next DNR Grants Journal as well as on the Training page
of our website.
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