arpa procurement requirements
Contracted work, as well as the delivery of goods and services, accounts for a large portion of the Commonwealths spending. The following are tools to implement this requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles. 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. Procurement and contracting requirements are in place as best practices to mitigate the risk of fraud, waste, or abuse of federal funds and are designed to ensure that federally funded contracts are competitive and fair. MOUs and MOAs should still include the required contract provisions, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SLFRF-Compliance-and-Reporting-Guidance.pdf, https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title2_chapterII_part200. In some cases, existing relationships established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) can be expanded for the provision of services that may fall under the intended use of ARP funding, such as non-profits or public entities like local public school districts or institutions of higher education, which provide public services such as housing support, healthcare, food distribution, or job training programs. 200.317, 200.322, and 200.326. After reviewing and analyzing data, managers can follow up and review more information, identify issues and resolve them. Historical data regarding the use of a supply or service can help procurement teams project future procurement needs and build a more effective and accurate budget. Recently in Massachusetts, a vendor offered a significant cost savings on supplies a local jurisdiction needed. The reviewer should also request receipts or consult with appropriate staff to confirm that the dollar amounts on the invoice are valid before recommending invoice payment. Costs must follow the requirements in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E, Cost Principles, including procurement standards. Impaired independence can hinder an auditors professional judgment or create the appearance that his professional judgment has been compromised. Adhering to local procurement and contracting policies, standards, or procedures, including applicable local or state laws. Thank you for your website feedback! Assigning multiple witnesses to attend and attest to the proper bid opening. If so, are there differences between the local and federal requirements that may be in conflict? The following is a sample policy: Recordkeeping Requirements. The following is a sample policy to address any program income: Note that there are some grey areas related to how to identify program income, particularly fees for services assessed for water, sewer, or broadband assets constructed or improved with ARP/CSLFRF monies. (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. Department Directory | Privacy Policy | SiteMap | 2023 City of Providence. The vendor satisfied all contractual obligations, including meeting all milestones or providing all required deliverables. A good way to start is by identifying data that would help you do your job. For more information about adopting a procurement policy for your jurisdiction, please see page 3 of the Bulletin. Counties with allocations under $10 million may spend their entire allocation on government services, but they may 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). 200.317-318. However, jurisdictions can take actions to ensure that grantees use ARPA funds in accordance with grant agreements. For example, per 2 CFR 200.425, a reasonably proportionate share of the costs of audits required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 are allowable; however, costs for audits that were not performed in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F and the Compliance Supplement are not allowable. 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. You must ensure that the vendors you are doing business with are legitimate and responsible. Recipients must adhere to the following contract administration requirements: Require the recipients prime contractor to pay its subcontractor for satisfactory performance no more than 30 days from the prime contractors receipt of payment from the recipient. 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. Including appropriate federal requirements or language in the executed contract, including bonding provisions, Contract Provisions for Non-Federal Entity Contracts Under Federal Awards. endstream endobj startxref Right-to-audit clauses should be specific, yet not overly restrictive, to allow the procuring entity the ability to interview key vendor personnel and review applicable documentation and records. [26] 2 CFR 200.324-325, 2 CFR 200 Subpart E. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). [3] Treasury reminds that recipients and subrecipients of this funding are required to have documented processes and procedures governing procurement and contracting under this award.[4]. The following are sample policies and other implementation tools for many of these award terms and UG requirements. These practices will also ensure that ARPA funding is used for its intended purpose: helping communities recover from the devastating health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricting access to the submitted bids. But taking the standard allowance and spending all the funds in the revenue replacement category does not convert these monies into general funds. Becoming overly friendly threatens the auditors independence in performing their review. As part of its contract administration process, the housing authority discovered the improper charges when it reviewed its invoices closely. Below are some general tips to keep in mind when reviewing invoices and payment requests: What if you have questions about an invoice? Is there a strategic way to expend CSLFRF funds (i.e., how do we make the best use of funds and trigger the fewest compliance requirements)? For example, in the scatter plot below, each of the points represents one contract. They are still federal grant funds, subject to all the award terms (be sure to read this document thoroughly) and most of the provisions of the federal Uniform Guidance (UG), which is the set of regulations that apply to the administration of federal awards. 4. Thank you for your website feedback! With the addition of the standard allowance, authorizing many NC local governments to expend their entire ARP/CSLFRF allocation for almost any purpose authorized by state law, counties and municipalities across the state have an even greater opportunity to make the best strategic investments for their communities with these one-time funds. This requirement builds on the eligible use determination. We will use this information to improve this page. If you would like to continue helping us improve Mass.gov, join our user panel to test new features for the site. For example, the OIG asks participants in our classes to complete surveys at the end of each class. Process, financial, and regulatory compliance audits might evolve into a fraud audit based upon the audit findings. You can transform information from historical and external sources into usable data, and you can create new data. For example, someone from the public works department who supervises roadway paving should know whether the contractor completed the work and used the correct materials. As indicated above, there may be ways to strategically spend the ARP/CSLFRF to minimize (but not eliminate) a local governments UG burden. Treasurys final rule, program guidance, and the Uniform Guidance outline the types of costs that are allowable, including certain audit costs. All rights reserved. Sole-source contractors: is the vendor really the only company who can provide a particular good or service? As an example, during a roadway paving project, the invoice reviewer should confirm that the quantity and type of asphalt listed on the invoice meets the contract requirements. However, Chapter 30B does not apply to federally funded procurements if following Chapter 30B would conflict with federal laws or regulations. of the Award Terms and Conditions. However, the Office of the Inspector General (Office) recommends that local jurisdictions use an open, fair and competitive process to acquire automobile towing and storage services. Publishing and documenting clear standards in procurement solicitations and evaluation criteria on how a municipality will determine a responsive and responsible. Municipalities should ensure that factors that may be overly restrictive to free and open competition are not included, such as placing unreasonable requirements on vendors to qualify or establishing any steps in the procurement process that are arbitrary or irrelevant to the award of contracts necessary and reasonable for the implementation of the use of funds under this award. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 0 Ongoing monitoring of any given subrecipient should reflect its assessed risk and include monitoring, identification of deficiencies, and follow-up to ensure appropriate remediation. A local jurisdiction recently sought guidance from the Office related to the procurement of towing and storage of motor vehicles. These awards are as follows: This collection does not apply to Tribal governments. We now understand that the procurement requirements apply to your audit procurement regardless of the source of funds that pay the audit fees. %PDF-1.6 % Then you can compile this information into a data-friendly format, like a spreadsheet. Each recipient should review program requirements, including Treasurys final rule and the recipients Award Terms and Conditions, to determine and record eligible uses of SLFRF funds. 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. As an example, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides that SLFRF funds may be used to meet the non-federal match requirements of authorized Bureau of Reclamation projects and certain broadband deployment projects. Past performance: for example, businesses previously on state or federal suspension or debarment lists may pose a greater risk of noncompliance or poor performance. This course is targeted to finance and management staff of smaller and mid-sized units that will be taking the standard allowance and spending most, if not all, of their ARP/CSLFRF as revenue replacement. A few states have that power vested with the Governor, State Comptroller, Commissioner, or the Board or higher authority that oversees the procurement. The following is a sample policy to address the specifics of property management: Note that there are some grey areas related to whether and how a local government must seek US Treasurys approval for disposal of real property, equipment, or supplies over $5,000, and whether or not a local government will have to repay US Treasury its federal share. Nevertheless, the vendor generated substantial revenue from the contract because drivers had to pay the vendor for towing and storage charges. hbbd```b`` DHl"Yn H2|+H3$00M 2@ o. WebPrerequisite: None Class Level: Basic Instructional Method: Online - MCPPO Online Class Technical Specifications Advanced Prep: None Class dates and times: April 18, 2023, %%EOF 11 Uniform Some of these are associated with a particular project; others are associated with the entire grant award. In the February 2020 issue of the OIG Bulletin, we published the first in a series of articles to help demystify data analytics. What is the difference between Suspension and Debarment? To utilize a pre-existing contract, municipalities can consider the following requirements to assess whether the contract meets federal procurement requirements: In some cases, existing relationships established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) can be expanded for the provision of services that may fall under the intended use of ARP funding, such as non-profits or public entities like local public school districts or institutions of higher education, which provide public services such as housing support, healthcare, food distribution, or job training programs. Massachusetts Executive Order 195 outlines audit and oversight requirements related to vendor contracts. Recipients should refer to the Assistance Listing for details on the specific provisions of the Uniform Guidance that do not apply to this program. Including right-to-audit clauses in vendor contracts and then performing effective audits can help reduce these risks. Benfords Law analysis: this analysis may highlight a vendor with billing discrepancies that warrant further review. 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 jurisdiction became suspicious, researched the vendor and found no registration information on file with the Secretary of Commonwealth. This blog post is for educational and informational use and may be used for those purposes without permission by providing acknowledgment of its source. 794; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 U.S.C. With the upcoming Project and Expenditure Report deadline fast approaching on April 30, join NACo and Government Finance Officers Association for an overview of what you need to know when it comes to reporting for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. In this article, we delve into two specific techniques for creating and using data visualizations, which can further aid a jurisdiction in detecting waste or fraud. WebThe Department of Education posted final requirements on ARPA ESSER in July 2021. This goal may be accomplished, in part, by using high quality data for informed decision making and risk assessment. The August 2020 installment of our data series discussed how to collect data and provided examples of how municipal employees can use that data to identify waste and possible fraud. Recipients should consult the final rule for further details if they seek to utilize SLFRF funds as a match for these projects. These are largely based on the type of contract, the goals of the audit, specific management concerns and other relevant variables. All other recipients must follow 2 CFR 200.318, General procurement standards, through 200.327, Contract provisions. Consistently applied. Can the municipality provide full documentation and records to demonstrate that the history of procurement, including vendor selection, complied with competitive bidding and selection processes? This page is located more than 3 levels deep within a topic. Simply having a contract, however, does not ensure that a vendor will always bill at the agreed-upon rates, deliver the correct quantity or quality of materials, or perform the necessary activities required in the contract or by law. We will update the policy if/when we receive more guidance from US Treasury. WebThey are awarded in accordance with the following requirements: ( i) Requests for proposals must be publicized and identify all evaluation factors and their relative importance. Use this button to show and access all levels. 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). Bid manipulation undermines fair competition, can cost your jurisdiction money and, in many instances, is illegal. WebSourcing & Procurement. In addition to Karas post, there is another new post on Procuring Single Audit services for ARPA funds. These awards are as follows: The short answer is: it depends. If a vendor is not registered beware. In this case, the subaward to a nonprofit is based on the services that the recipient intends to provide (assistance to households experiencing homelessness), and the nonprofit is serving as the subrecipient, providing services on behalf of the recipient. If you seek federal reimbursement for your supplies or services procurement meaning that you make the purchase first then you generally must abide by the requirements of Chapter 30B. [1] These requirements outline the general standards and regulations for the procurement of goods and services for recipients and subrecipients of federally awarded funds. By regularly monitoring key performance indicators and tying grant payments to measurable standards, jurisdictions can determine which projects are working well and which require additional attention. ARPA-funded projects must also adhere to North Carolina Webprocurement can be used. Below are a few examples of the range of schemes that vendors may engage in. 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