The Upgrade Abatement Authority (OAA) told city and county grant recipients to submit a fiscal year 2025 carry‑forward “true up” report through the OAA grants portal by 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18. Sharika Bridal, senior grants compliance analyst, said the report is required for every FY25 project that was renewed into FY26 and must be submitted before OAA will distribute any additional FY26 funds.

The true‑up process reconciles the estimated carry‑forward amounts included in FY26 renewal applications with the final balances as of June 30, 2025, so OAA and localities can determine whether award adjustments are necessary. "This allows us to hear officially from each locality about where the project ended up," Charlie Lenticum, director of operations, said. He said OAA staff will use the submitted figures to decide whether changes can be handled administratively or must return to the grants committee for approval.

Sharika Bridal outlined the report components and required attachments. Each report must include: a narrative status update that explains any differences between the originally approved carry‑forward amount and the final FY25 carry‑forward; a budget overview that lists revenue and expenditures by source and budget category (personnel, operating, capital); a FY25 general ledger showing project transactions; and a completed OAA carry‑forward true‑up expenditure spreadsheet. The spreadsheet (available on OAA’s grants information pages) has three tabs—overview, personnel, and operating/capital—and blue cells indicate where localities enter data. Bridal said the portal will auto‑populate certain fields (awarded amounts and the FY26 projected carry forward) and will compute final carry‑forward totals and percent changes once final FY25 expenditures are entered.

The requirement applies only to FY25 awards renewed into FY26. Bridal and Lenticum clarified several exclusions: projects that ended June 30, 2025, are not required to submit the report; new FY26 awards (projects beginning 07/01/2025) are not required; and planning grants are exempt. For cooperative partnership awards, the fiscal agent must submit a single report that encompasses the full partnership; partner localities do not submit separate carry‑forward reports for matching funds that were pledged as part of the cooperative award. "Everything runs through the fiscal agent," Lenticum said.

OAA staff said the general ledger attachments should show only OAA expenditures for the reported project. If a locality served as a subrecipient, the county or city recipient must provide the ledger that reconciles to the amounts reported; subrecipients may provide additional detail if helpful. Bridal emphasized that the expenditure spreadsheet should be filled using the FY26 renewal lines that correspond to items that had awarded amounts in FY25—i.e., the reporting is reconciling awarded FY25 line items to FY25 final expenditures.

Senior business analyst Matt Terrell demonstrated the portal workflow and the spreadsheet, showing how final expenditures in personnel and operating categories tie to the report and trigger the portal’s automated calculations. "If you see a blue shaded cell, that is where information needs to be entered," Terrell said, walking through an example where final FY25 expenditures and award lines reconciled to a $10,000 final carry‑forward.

Signatures: Reports must be certified via the portal’s e‑signature process by an authorized official (city or county executive, a named designee, or chief financial officer). Terrell and Bridal said the portal will route the e‑signature packet to the person whose contact information is entered on the signature screen; Adobe eSign will be used for signature capture.

Questions about a specific award should be sent through the grants portal’s communications tab and can tag OAA staff members to notify them directly. Bridal said OAA staff can review an in‑progress submission in the portal if a locality requests feedback before sending for e‑signature. OAA staff also said a guidance document and the spreadsheet would be posted to the grants information pages alongside the webinar recording and that they plan to streamline the portal flow for future cycles.

For localities preparing reports, OAA staff recommended: confirm which FY25 award lines had awarded amounts (not just FY26 planned lines); attach the FY25 general ledger that reconciles to the reported figures; complete and attach the provided expenditure spreadsheet; and ensure the authorized signer’s email is entered on the signature page so the e‑sign packet routes correctly. Contact OAA through the grants portal communications tab for technical assistance or clarification.

Less critical details: the webinar recording and guidance materials will be posted on the Abatement Academy web page; OAA staff include Charlie Lenticum (director of operations), Sharika Bridal (senior grants compliance analyst), Matt Terrell (senior business analyst) and Adam Rosatelli (director of finance).