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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
William Greene, Chief Financial Officer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
William Greene, Chief Financial Officer |
TITLE:
title
TBA2022-09-01 - Technical Budget Adjustment Authorizing the Addition of Two Full Time Employees to Support UTA Grant Management
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Discussion
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the Technical Budget Adjustment (TBA) as presented to create two Full Time Employee (FTE) positions to support and improve grant acquisition, management, and administration at UTA. The TBA will add one Director responsible for all grant activity at UTA and a Project Controls Administrator that will be responsible for grant reporting and support of all three phases of grant management.
BACKGROUND:
Currently, grant management is not centralized at UTA resulting in a fragmented approach with lack of ownership for several key grant management functions. The functions are not well coordinated, and each has a different owner or owners - or in some cases, no function owner is identified.
The existing Grant positions currently reside in two organizations at UTA:
• UTA Project Grants - resides in the Service Development Office in the Environmental and Grant Services Organization. Two grant development administrators are responsible for grant acquisition, management and administrative activities for the Agency. They are supervised by the Manager of Environmental and Grant Services. Grant reporting, audit administration and other functions are housed throughout the organization.
• Mobility Management - resides within the Operations Office and provides oversight and management of UTA’s FTA Section 5310 program (also known as Enhanced Mobility of Seniors & Individuals with Disabilities). UTA manages the urban portion of the state’s 5310 program aimed at assisting private nonprofit groups in meeting the transportation needs of older adults and people with disabilities when the transportation service provided is unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meeting these needs. There are five UTA staff supporting this program.
The proposed grant program reorganization would combine these two grant programs within the Finance Office. This will result in efficiencies, improved grant oversight, better audit results, and improved grant performance.
DISCUSSION:
The recent FTA Financial Management Oversight Review identified weaknesses in the existing structure and processes for UTA’s grant management. This issue was also identified in UTA’s Internal Audit reviews, and in the 2019-2021 Federal Monitor Reports. The Federal Monitor’s final report recommended consolidating grant management functions and including the addition of compliance monitoring to that group. The report also noted that additional resources and expertise may be needed to make this consolidation effective.
The 2023 Budget Proposal includes a request to create a new Grants Department with responsibility for all grant activity at UTA and oversight of the existing 5310 program. This request will consolidate all grant management activity at UTA within the Finance Office. Staff from the existing Capital grants team in the Environmental and Grants Services organization and from the Coordinated Mobility organization will be consolidated in the new department, along with the two additional FTEs being requested through this Technical Budget Adjustment.
ALTERNATIVES:
Status quo - UTA could be risk interruption of critical federal funding streams.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The 2022 cost of these two positions is estimated at $45,000 for 2022 with an annual ongoing cost of $263,000. 2022 costs will be absorbed from budget underruns and the 2023 costs are included in the Agency’s 2023 Budget Request.
ATTACHMENTS:
UTA Proposed Grant Structure