SLFRF July Newsletter

Summary

Treasury's July 2024 newsletter to State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) recipients (Volume 2, Issue 3), sent July 18, 2024. Its focus is the obligation deadline: recipients had to obligate all SLFRF funds by December 31, 2024. Treasury announced an updated Compliance and Reporting Guidance that adds ways to report obligations in the Treasury Portal, in line with the clarifications in Section 17 of the SLFRF FAQs, and released the July 2024 Project and Expenditure Report User Guide. The Q2 2024 reporting period began July 1, 2024 and concludes July 31, 2024. The newsletter also introduces an Affordable Housing How-To Guide for designing eligible affordable housing projects and answers frequently asked questions.

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  From: U.S. Department of the Treasury <subscriptions@subscriptions.treas.gov>
  Sent: Friday, July 18, 2024
  Subject: Courtesy Copy: SLFRF July Newsletter | Reporting Resources, Obligation Resources, and More




                                                                             Volume 2, Issue 3 | Thursday, July 18

Welcome to the Summer edition of the SLFRF Newsletter, meant to inform and empower SLFRF recipients. In
this issue, you’ll find important updates, useful online tools, and resources related to reporting and meeting the
obligation deadline. Plus, we’ve got concise answers to some of SLFRF recipients’ most frequently asked questions.

We encourage you to forward this newsletter to someone you know who would benefit from receiving this
newsletter and let them know to subscribe here.

KEY UPDATES
Top Items for this Newsletter:

1. Treasury has released an updated version of the SLFRF Compliance and Reporting Guidance. Updates
    include new capabilities to report obligations in the Treasury Portal, aligning with the clarifications to the
    obligation requirement Treasury released earlier this year in Section 17 of the SLFRF FAQs.

2. Treasury has released the July 2024 Project and Expenditure Report User Guide. Use this resource for a
    successful submission of your July 2024 quarterly Project and Expenditure Report.

3. Treasury has released the updated Affordable Housing How-To Guide to highlight how recipients can use
    SLFRF funds to develop, rehabilitate, and operate affordable housing.

4. This edition’s “Ask the Answer Team” segment addresses common questions that have maintained
    relevance throughout the year.


CITY OF PHOENIX USES $10 MILLION OF SLFRF FUNDS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT




         Moreland Phase 1 Exterior Rendition (1)                  Moreland Phase 1 Exterior Rendition (2)
SLFRF provided governments critical resources to invest in projects that meet the needs of their communities.
For example, Phoenix, Arizona allocated $10 million of SLFRF funding for the Moreland Phase I development,
which will more expand an existing affordable housing complex by adding 181 new affordable housing units.
Scheduled to open in 2025, this housing complex will help the City of Phoenix address an affordable housing
crisis that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will serve some of Phoenix’s lowest-income residents
who make at or below 60% of the Area Median Income and will soon have an affordable place to live because
of the city’s SLFRF funds.

The Moreland Phase I project not only more than quadruples the number of affordable housing units at
the complex, but also offers new residents easy access to bus and train routes, multiple grocery stores, and
schools due to its central location. The renovated building is also located in downtown Phoenix, putting
residents in the center of numerous professional, educational, and recreational opportunities.

The City of Phoenix developed this project in partnership with Native American Connections, a local
nonprofit organization that promotes affordable housing and health services. Dianne Yazzie Devine, the
former CEO of Native American Connections, explained that the project aims to give “easy access to the
educational, nutritional, medical, and recreational resources that ensure a better quality of life for [Phoenix
citizens] and their families.” See this Treasury press release to learn more about Treasury’s most recent
affordable housing initiatives.

SLFRF NEW RELEASES AND UPDATES
Updated SLFRF Compliance and Reporting Guidance

The updated SLFRF Compliance and Reporting Guidance will assist recipients in successfully submitting their
July 2024 Quarter 2 (Q2) Project and Expenditure (P&E) Report.

The Treasury Portal opened for the P&E Reports on July 1, 2024, and will remain open until July 31, 2024. In
preparation for this deadline, Treasury released an updated SLFRF Compliance and Reporting Guidance to
assist recipients in a successful submission. These changes align with the recent clarifications to the SLFRF
obligation requirement, which can be found in Section 17 of the Coronavirus State and Fiscal Recovery Funds
Frequently Asked Questions (SLFRF FAQs). In May, Treasury also hosted a webinar that provided an overview
of the SLFRF FAQs related to the updated obligation guidance. Recipients can watch the webinar recording
and review the slide deck used during the webinar as well. Recipients are required to obligate all SLFRF funds
by December 31, 2024.

Recipients should use the P&E User Guide and updated Compliance and Reporting Guidance in preparing
their P&E Report for the Q2 2024 reporting period. The Q2 2024 reporting period began July 1, 2024, and
will conclude July 31, 2024. Recipients required to report quarterly must submit a P&E Report this reporting
period. Recipients required to report annually do not need to submit a P&E Report this reporting period.

Newly Updated Project and Expenditure Report User Guide
Treasury has recently released an updated version of the Project and Expenditure Report User Guide to
assist recipients in submitting SLFRF reports through Treasury’s Portal. The User Guide includes information
about how to report projects for which funds are obligated through interagency agreements (IAAs), as well as
estimates for certain administrative and legal expenses that will be expended after December 31, 2024. See
the Project and Expenditure Report User Guide for more information.
New Resource: Use the Affordable Housing How-To Guide to Design Eligible Affordable
Housing Projects

In July 2024, the Department of the Treasury released an update to the Affordable Housing How-To Guide to
support recipient community investment of SLFRF dollars to boost the supply of affordable housing. As the How-
To Guide highlights, there are a wide variety of ways that SLFRF recipients can support new affordable housing in
their community, even if a recipient only has a small amount of funds remaining unobligated (see p. 7).

The updated How-To Guide aligns with the updated guidance on presumptively eligible ways SLFRF recipients
can use funds to support affordable housing, which Treasury released in February 2024. See FAQ 2.14 of the
SLFRF FAQs for more information. With expanded presumptive eligibility for promoting affordable housing
through SLFRF funds, recipients are better equipped to help their communities and counter the negative
economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen visited a housing development in Minneapolis, Minnesota that
was funded using $4 million in SLFRF funds. Secretary Yellen highlighted that SLFRF recipients have allocated
$19 billion for over 3,000 housing-related projects, and congratulated the City of Minneapolis on enacting
changes in residential land use laws that enable more housing construction, which made the project possible.
Secretary Yellen noted, “I strongly encourage more state and local governments to take additional action
to address the housing shortage, and I look forward to continuing to make sure the federal government is a
strong partner to them .”

New Resource: SLFRF Portal Demonstration on How to Report Obligations

Treasury recently published a demonstration of how to report certain types of obligations in the SLFRF portal.
You can find this resource on Treasury’s YouTube page or by clicking the following link: https://youtu.be/
PaCpCt8K-1w. The recent updates to the July 2024 SLFRF Project and Expenditure Report User Guide covered
in this demonstration are:

• Overview of Obligation
• New Administrative Expenditure Sub-Category for reporting Costs Associated with Satisfying Certain Legal
   and Administrative Requirements
• Interagency Agreement (IAA) incorporated into selection options for Subawards and Subrecipients
• 2025 and 2026 Personnel Cost Estimates included for Direct Payment Subawards
• Estimated Contract Change Order and Contingency Expenses
• Useful Resources
• Updates to Supplemental Guidance: Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance for SLFRF Title I Projects


Treasury has released updates to its supplemental guidance document for National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) compliance. Use this document to ensure that your SLFRF Title I Projects are NEPA compliant. See
Supplemental Guidance: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance for SLFRF Title I Projects to
learn more.
SLFRF IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Local leaders across the country use their funds in many ways to support their residents. Treasury would
like to uplift your examples of success and impact stories. To submit an example of an impactful use of your
community’s SLFRF award, fill out the attached document and submit it to SLFRFstories@treasury.gov.

SLFRF AT 2024 TEXAS HOUSING CONFERENCE
Treasury will be attending the Texas Housing Conference, and staff will be available to connect July 23 from
1:30pm-6pm in Austin, Texas. Please reach out to SLFRF@treasury.gov with details about your inquiry and
preferred times if you are interested in meeting in person during the conference. Please include “Texas
Housing Conference” in the subject line of your meeting request.

ASK THE ANSWER TEAM
Read below for the most common SLFRF questions that have remained relevant throughout the year.

 Question: How do I edit or delete a report? Can we reopen our submitted reports, and what about
 cumulative reporting?

  Reopening submitted reports: Reports from prior periods are not eligible to be re-opened for revisions after
  the reporting deadline has passed.

  Cumulative reporting: The SLFRF P&E Reports are cumulative reports and any adjustments needed can be
  made in the current reporting period, if it is still open, or in the next open reporting period when it opens.

  Editing or deleting a report: For the quarterly or annual P&E report, edits may be made prior to the
  submission deadline. If it is before the deadline and you have already submitted the report and need to
  make an edit, you can hit the “Unsubmit” button, make the edit, and then re-submit and re-certify the
  report. If the deadline has passed and you need to make edits, you will need to wait for the next reporting
  period to open to make edits. Once you make edits, you should provide detailed notes in the description
  text box for any updates. If the updates are related to projects, subawards, or expenditures, you can make
  the following applicable edits:

   1. change the project status to cancel;
   2. create a new project; or
   3. create negative subaward or expenditure line items to reconcile incorrect line items.

 Question: Can I request an extension of the deadline for submitting my report?

  The SLFRF program generally does not grant extensions for reporting period due dates. Recipients’
  submissions received after the reporting deadline will be considered late. Recipients who do not submit
  the required reports by the deadline may face penalties for noncompliance, which may include returning
  the SLFRF award funds to Treasury.
Question: We’ve already spent and reported our funds. Is the report still required?

Recipients are required to continue to submit reports to Treasury as outlined in the SLFRF Compliance
and Reporting Guidance. Please refer to the section titled “Reporting Guidance” starting on for your
reporting responsibilities and note the due dates on pages 21-22. Treasury will provide further closeout
instructions that will provide information to recipients on how to complete closeout and provide final
report information.


How can I create an account and assign/update user roles in Treasury’s Portal?

Treasury has provided a special edition Newsletter (News Flash) and recorded webinars for step-by-step
instructions on how to create an account and login and for assigning and updating user roles in Treasury’s
Portal. For more information, see also Treasury Guidance on registering with ID.me or Treasury Guidance
on registering with Login.gov (creating an account) and Updating User Roles in Portal (assigning user roles).

For more information on the reporting roles of Account Administrator, Point of Contact for Reporting, and
Authorized Representative for Reporting, please see Appendix A of the updated Project and Expenditure
Report User Guide located at Treasury.gov/SLFRPreporting.

The Account Administrator for your entity would need to make any updates to points of contact or roles
within Treasury’s Portal. If you are not the Account Administrator, then you can reach out to that individual
and request that they follow the steps below. If you are the Account Administrator or would like to become
the Account Administrator, then you can:

 • Log into Treasury’s Portal via ID.me or Login.gov
 • Click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left
 • Click on Account
 • Then, click into the specific Account link
 • To designate the Account Administrator, the current Account Administrator must go to the Certification
    on the left-hand side to enter their name and submit for the Designation Form to present itself. In the
    Designation section, the current Account Administrator can update user roles and add/delete POCs.
    Select the Designation form on the left-hand side
 • From here, you can designate the role of any contact or designate new contacts.

Once logged into the Treasury Portal, you can add more Users by clicking the “Add Contacts” button. Once
Users/Contacts are added, they will need to go to login.gov or ID.me for their login credentials. All Users
can add additional contacts. However, all Contacts will need their individual login credentials for ID.me for
system access.

To deactivate a user, please have the existing Account Administrator edit the POCs. If the current Account
Administrator has left, email us at COVIDITrelief@treasury.gov and request the deactivation. At that time,
we can submit a ticket to have the User deactivated. Please note that if a change to a user email address
is needed, the current point of contact(s) must email covidreliefitsupport@treasury.gov to request that
change. The Authorized Representative cannot directly make the change, or it may cause access issues.
   For additional details, please review Appendix A of the Project and Expenditure Report User Guide now
   available at Treasury.gov/SLFRPreporting.

   You can also view our video on Adding and Changing User Roles by accessing Treasury.gov/SLFRPreporting,
   scrolling down on the web page to the Webinar section, and clicking on the User Roles link to access the video.

How can I make updates to user roles if the current point of contact has left due to staff turnover?

In cases where Points of Contact for a recipient account are outdated, it is possible for the recipient entity
to update user roles, even if no current staff have access to the Treasury Portal due to staff turnover. To gain
access to your government’s reports, please ensure you first have a Login.gov account. Once your Login.gov
account is created, the Portal will ask you to verify the postal code, along with the account identifier in order
for you to have the right reporting roles associated with your Login.gov account. If you need the account
identifier, you will need send an email to the COVID Relief IT Team at COVIDReliefITSupport@treasury.gov.

How do I begin the SLFRF close out process?

Please refer to pages 78-82 of the Project and Expenditure Report User Guide.There is a question within
the Treasury Portal to determine if you are ready to close out your SLFRF award. This question will only be
generated for those recipients whose total SLFRF award is equal to total SLFRF expenditures. This question
reads: “Have you spent your full SLFRF award and are ready to close out the award?” Please note that this
question is for informational purposes only. Responding to it does not start the closeout process. Recipients
should respond accordingly and await additional guidance from Treasury regarding closeout procedures.
Even by answering “Yes,” you will still be required to continue periodic reporting.



CONNECT WITH US


CONNECT WITH US
Please share SLFRF news by forwarding this newsletter to others!
Subscribe to the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Newsletter by signing up here.

If you require additional assistance, please reach out to us by email:
For questions about the Treasury Portal or for technical support, please email covidreliefitsupport@treasury.gov.

For general questions about the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, please email
SLFRF@treasury.gov.

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