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LEPC warns deletion of operating funds risks making federal grants unallowable; seeks restoration in FY2026
Summary
The Law Enforcement Planning Commission told a Senate budget committee that a 2025 appropriation cut to its 'other services' operating line has forced LEPC into a compliance risk: shifting those recurring local costs onto DOJ grants would meet the federal definition of 'supplanting' and could make some federal spending unallowable.
The Law Enforcement Planning Commission (LEPC), which serves as the territory's State Administering Agency for multiple U.S. Department of Justice grants, told the Senate Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance on Aug. 13 that a prior deletion of its non‑personnel operating funds creates a federal compliance risk.
"This action meets the definition of supplanting, which is strictly prohibited," LEPC Executive Director Melito A. Smith Jr. told the committee, describing the 2025 appropriation change that removed funds for rent, utilities, telephones and janitorial services with the stated legislative intent that federal grants cover those costs.
Why it matters: Federal grant rules require that federal funds supplement, not replace, state or local funds for routine operational costs. LEPC said the FY2025 appropriation removed all other‑services funding outside payroll and left those necessary operating costs where federal grants could not…
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