New York State Workforce Development System New York State
Technical Advisory
 
August 25, 2004
Workforce Development System Technical Advisory #01-18.2
 
TO: Chairpersons of Local Workforce Investment Boards
Chief Elected Officials
WIA Grant Recipients
WIA Fiscal Agents
WIA Local Area Contact Persons
SUBJECT:Timely Submission of WIA, TANF Summer Youth, and Trade Adjustment Act Funds for Individual Training Plans Financial Reports – Revised Information
PURPOSE:To update the policy for timely and accurate submission of WIA and TANF Summer Youth Monthly Financial Reports to include Trade Adjustment Act Funds for Individual Training Plans

Technical Advisory 01-18.2 expands upon the policy for the preparation and timely submission of the Monthly Expenditure Reports as originally promulgated in Technical Advisory 01-18, dated June 27, 2001 and revised in Technical Advisory 01-18.1, dated August 20, 2003, to include within the scope of the timely and accurate reporting of funds received by the Local Workforce Investment Areas (LWIAs) for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) training activities.

REFERENCE:Section 667.300 of the WIA Rules and Regulations, Section 265.3(c) of the TANF Rules and Regulations and 29 CFR 97.41(b)(4) for TAA grants requires that financial reports be submitted quarterly; State policy requires that financial reports be submitted monthly.

Section 667.200(a) of the WIA Rules and Regulations describes the uniform fiscal and administrative requirements that each local area must follow, which includes accurate financial reporting.

The President’s FY 2004 proposed budget states that there will be an administrative change of WIA requirements to 70% accrued expenditures.

BACKGROUND:Technical Advisory 01-18 promulgated and 01-18.1 clarified the submission requirements and established a State policy regarding late submissions of Monthly Financial Reports for the WIA and for TANF Summer Youth financial reports. This Technical Advisory, 01-18.2, adds Trade Adjustment Act Funds for Individual Training Plans to the list of funds covered by this policy.
GUIDELINES:Failure to Submit Timely Reports and Inaccurate Reports

Effective immediately, the following guidelines apply.

LWIAs that have not submitted all the WIA, TANF Summer Youth and Trade Adjustment Assistance monthly financial reports in accordance with the due date of the 20th day of the following month and/or are substantially inaccurate within a Program Year, will be subject to the following:

  1. For the first occurrence, the Local Area must submit a written explanation within five days, outlining the reason(s) for the late submission of the report(s) and a corrective action plan which:

    1. outlines the reason(s) for the late submission of the report(s);
    2. describes the action being taken to remedy the problem;
    3. indicates the date the delinquent report(s) will be submitted to their State Representative for approval. (In no case should the submission of the delinquent report be more than 45 days after the report period. [e.g. July report by September 15th, August report by October 15th etc.]), and
    4. notes any technical assistance needed to correct the problem.

  2. For the second occurrence, the Local Area’s authority to draw cash down will be suspended until the following month’s report(s) is received on time and is accurate.

  3. For the third occurrence, the Local Area’s authority to draw cash down will be suspended for three months.

Please note: when a Local Area is developing their monthly accruals, they should include an accrual for each contracted service.

The following are four examples of how a report is substantially inaccurate:

  1. Obligations are less than or equal to accrued expenditures during the current Program Year: only in rare circumstances should obligations equal accrued expenditures. When this does occur, the Local Area should attach an explanation to the expenditure report.

  2. Over- and under- estimation of monthly accruals and obligations: this would be determined by a FOTA desk review or on-site review of the current month’s reports and a comparison with previous month’s reports.

  3. Inappropriate accrual: a Local Area reports their accrued expenditures against current Program Year funds instead of the oldest available Program Year funds.

  4. Omitted/inaccurate data: a Local Area, when reporting their monthly accruals, does not include an accrual for each contracted service; or, the accrual reported is based on contract funding levels instead of an actual figure.

Questions concerning the failure to report procedure should be directed to your State Representative.