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CITY OF FERNLEY AGENDA REPORT DATE PREPARED: 01/14/10 DATE OF MEETING: 01/20/10 ITEM#: 11 SUBJECT: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE THE CITY OF FERNLEY GRANTS MANAGEMENT POLICY AND OTHER MATTERS RELATED THERETO. RECOMMENTATION: Move to “approve the City of Fernley Grants Management Policies and Procedures.” BACKGROUND: City government, as an institution, has multiple partners including residents, taxpayers, businesses, visitors, employees, and other governments. As a major institutional, economic, and service force in the region, it is important that the City strengthen relationships with its partners by adopting clear and comprehensive financial policies. Grant funds received by the City of Fernley support important programs and services that the City provides to the community. These funds allow the City to extend pre-existing services, introduce new initiatives, gain technological advances, and subsidize programmatic staffing. Grant funds are dispersed throughout the City and impact a variety of efforts, including economic development, social services, public safety, parks, and infrastructure improvement and maintenance, among others. Because grant funding allows the City to leverage local public funds in order to extend and enhance the services it offers to the community, the impact of grant funding upon the community is significant, with the process of grants administration and management a critical and important function. Furthermore, the financial integrity of the City of Fernley is of utmost importance, and adopting a set of grant management policies and procedures is a key element to maintain this integrity. SUMMARY: The City of Fernley is currently administering $13.5 million in grant funding with an additional $4.3 million applied for and/or appropriated thus far in 2010. The purpose of this phase of the Grants Management policies and procedures is to develop, implement and maintain meaningful grant oversight and coordination for the City thereby increasing grant related revenue, limiting the City’s exposure to grant related legal liability, and improving the efficiency and impact of programs and services funded through grants. Foremost, these policies and procedures, establish the roles and associated responsibilities of the various City of Fernley departments, involved in the grant process. City departments and their staff that occupy positions of responsibility with respect to grant activity have specific roles and responsibilities that they shall perform and uphold both ethically and in the best interests of the City of Fernley. Furthermore, these policies and procedures are based on the U.S. Office of Budget Management grant financial procedures and provide the framework and guidelines for effective grants oversight and program implementation based on national best practices. The policies and procedures attached include provisions for: 1. Centralized oversight to provide guidance and act as a resource for grant- seeking departments; ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Regular reporting of timely, complete and accurate grant information to decision makers; 3. Good internal controls over departmental grant identification, analysis and Council approval; 4. Ensure that grants are strategically planned for and match funds are budgeted and aligned with City priorities, goals, objectives and funding; 5. Efficient processes to apply for and accept grant awards; 6. Regular evaluation of grant-funded programs to support management decisions on whether to continue the programs, either through subsequent grants or City funds; 7. Procedures to ensure compliance with grantor requirements; and 8. Monitoring to ensure program outcomes are achieved, grant revenues are maximized, and expenditures reflect actual costs that are allowable under the terms of the grant, or are appropriately charged within established budgets. Grants Administration has worked closely with the Finance Team and has put in place the groundwork to effectively implement the attached policies and procedures. Additionally, we are reviewing the City’s purchasing policies and procedures to address specific grant procurement processes, grant contract Request for Proposals process and the sub award process. The Team expects to have recommendations that address these specific processes to the council by the end of the fiscal year. FISCAL IMPACT: These policies and procedures are intended to foster exceptional stewardship of the public trust through a rigorous adherence to ethical and professional standards associated with grant related activity. Adherence to these policies and procedures will promote efficiency, better transparency, greater accountability, a strategic approach to funding opportunities, and generally place the City in a more competitive position for securing grant funds. PREPARED BY: Leslieann Hayden, Grants Administrator Mel Drown, City Treasurer/Finance Director APPROVED BY: Greg Evangelatos, City Manager