Budget Realignments and Budget Amendments Presented by Jean Fecteau , Fiscal Analyst Ginell Rogers, MPA , Fiscal Analyst Natasha Elliott, MBA, Fiscal Analyst

OBJECTIVES: Understand the new process for Budget Realignment/Amendment and the documentation requirements; Understand the OEO and DSS Contract Office internal process and the time it takes to complete a Budget Realignment and or Amendment;

Issues related to Budget REALIGNMENTS/AMENDMENTS Agencies spending funds before approval of new budget. (Causing negatives in 1571) Errors in calculations for the fringe. No documentation submitted to support salary increases.

Issues related to Budget REALIGNMENTS/AMENDMENTS Lacked justification for changes. Missing budget forms 225N or 225, with just the 225B submitted. 6. Travel changes not detailed in the 225N

NEW BUDGET FORM 225B REQUEST FOR BUDGET CHANGE PROJECT PERIOD TO   9/16 Rev. OEO FORM 225-B Page _____ of _____ Pages REQUEST FOR BUDGET CHANGE (1) GRANTEE: PROJECT PERIOD TO BUDGET CHANGE REQUEST 1 2 3 4 (2) PROJECT NAME CSBG OTHER COST CATEGORY (3) OLD BUDGET AMOUNT (4) NEW BUDGET AMOUNT CHANGE IN AMOUNT REASON FOR CHANGE (8) (9): Justification or explanation for the change Salaries $ - Fringe Benefits Equipment Communication Space Costs Travel Supplies / Materials Contractual Client Services Other (specify) Total Direct Costs $0 (5) Indirect Costs % (Appr. Rate): (6)(7) Base: * Total Indirect Costs Admin. Support TOTAL COSTS **This spreadsheet is set for rounding which may cause a minor variance between the Total Costs shown and the approved CSBG allocation. The decisions made by the Office of Economic Opportunity to approve, disapprove and/or accept this request for information only, will be based on the actual allocation. Future disbursements made by the Controller's Office will also be made based on the actual allocation. This variance does not effect the agency's approved allocation. (10) AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE DATE (10) TITLE FOR OEO USE ONLY Approved __________ Not Approved _________ For Information Only ________ DIRECTOR

Budget realignment/amendment requests must be submitted to your contract administrator at OEO by April 1, 20XX prior to the ending date of the contract. This allows time for processing any budget realignments or amendments during the contract period. We are required to provide the Contract Office 90 days to process. The language has just been changed to April 1, 20XX deadline.

Budget Realignment verses Budget Amendment

Definition of Budget Realignment A realignment is for the purpose of documenting the realignment of previously budgeted funds, not to increase or decrease the total value of the contract. Budget realignments are considered non material budget changes typically less than 15% within existing line items whereby the bottom line does not change(as descripted in OW).  Basically reviewed as same dollars utilized in different way to deliver the same or almost the same deliverables. 

Definition of Budget Amendment Any change to a contract after it has been executed is considered a budget amendment regardless if it was accidentally or intentionally when a new line item is added to existing budget lines. An example would be no insurance was included in the first budget in error and added through a budget change. This would be considered an amendment as it may change the scope of services or deliverables depending on the lines that were reduced to include insurance. Any salary changes are considered a Budget amendment.

Budget realignment/AMENDMENT PROCESS Contact OEO with need for budget change/realignment or amendment for prior approval; Must submit all Budget Change/Realignment or Amendment no later than April 1, 2017; Send Budget Change/Realignment documents scanned in color; Fiscal staff reviews all calculations, support documentation and total allocation requested to ensure accuracy. OEO staff will contact agency with questions via email;

Budget realignment/AMENDMENT PROCESS Provide accurate Budget Change/Realignment to Director to review and approve. Enter into Open Windows as Realignment or Amendment. OEO staff fill out the DSS Form 2517S and complete a Contract Approval Form (CAF) Upload all new forms as attachments, budget 225, 225N Provide all documents to Director to review for accuracy and approval.

Budget realignment/AMENDMENT PROCESS OEO fills out and submits the Realignment form 2517 and CAF to DSS Contracts Office for review and approval; Which is then submitted to the DSS Budget Office for review and approval; Which is submitted to other offices depending on it being a realignment or an amendment for signature and approval. Once DSS Contract Office approves and obtains all signatures, the contract pages are mailed to Grantee to sign.

What not to do when submitting your Budget Realignment/Amendment. Spend the funds before the budget realignment/amendment is approved (unless you received prior approval and do not go over lines in 1571) Make small immaterial changes to salaries and/or fringe calculations, especially if the salary has not changed. (i.e. salary increased by $50) Make major changes in travel plans unless detailed in format to be provided.

Please note: OEO Fiscal Staff will not update or correct any forms related to budget realignments or amendments. All updates must be done by the agencies and rescanned to OEO.

What must be done when submitting your request for a Budget Realignment/Amendment. Submit all forms, 225, 225N, and 225B with accurate calculations. (225 in Excel and 225N in Word) Complete the 225B with all explanations requested. Scan the signed 225B Budget Realignment /Amendment to Fiscal and Program Analyst in color.

Expense new costs to CSBG after request has been approved. Sign your new contract immediately and submit for execution. Helpful Hints when submitting Ensure amendment explanation clearly states what changes are being made and why they are being made. Amendments are a continuation of what the original contract states. Explanations should be clear enough for an uninformed third party to clearly understand what is being changed and where in the contract to find the change(s).   Any line-item changes in “Personnel” constitutes a budget amendment (as opposed to realignment) regardless of whether changes have been made to the Scope of Work.

In SUmmary Review budget to actual on a regular basis to note trends and the need for Budget Realignment or Amendment; Contact OEO and inform them of the agency’s need for Budget Realignment or AMendment; Keep all communications in Contract Budget file; Submit required 225B, 225 and the 225N forms to initiate the process; Sign all contract documents received from the DSS Contracts Office as requested to finalize process.

QUESTIONS