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CAH reports faster grant payments and higher obligations as teams adopt new processes
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Summary
Commission staff reported quicker payments to grantees, higher obligation rates and staff additions; the commission said 954 of 1,150 grant agreements are fully executed and grants payouts for General Operating Support are 4.4 times higher than at the same point last year.
Commission staff on Jan. 23 told the Commission on the Arts and Humanities that changes to grant administration and procurement processes have accelerated payments to grantees and increased obligated funds.
“954 out of 1,150, that's 84% of our grants have been fully executed,” Gretchen Wharton, grants committee commissioner, said during the meeting. She added that purchase orders are established for 83% of GOS (General Operating Support) grantees and 56% of fellowship grantees.
Brandon Saunders, who presented the finance committee update, said CAH’s obligated spending is on schedule. “As of January 13... we're actually on pretty good track, spending 23% of the personnel services funds from the admin side, as well as 23% from the non personnel services side,” Saunders said. He reported that the grants portfolio is about 58% obligated and that the agency has paid out 4.4 times more for GOS and nearly twice as much for Neighborhood Arts compared with the same point last fiscal year.
Executive Director Aaron Myers said the agency is adding staff to support grants administration and finance. Two new grant management specialists — Tiani Villanado and Benjamin Wills — are due to start Jan. 27, and a procurement analyst position has been posted. Myers also said the grants division has relocated to the building’s front entrance and that staff are reviewing new grant management systems; CAH plans to report timelines at its February meeting.
Myers reminded commissioners that CAH’s performance oversight hearing was tentatively scheduled for March 6 and the budget oversight hearing for April 10. Commissioners and staff credited a new batching protocol developed with resource allocation staff (referred to as Martin/Martino in meeting remarks) and the use of the agency’s “diffs” system for speeding post-award processing.
Wharton and Saunders urged grantees with missing documentation to contact their grant managers; Wharton said grants managers maintain office hours and can meet with applicants to resolve documentation issues.
