Byrne Formula Grant Program Guidance, FY 2004

Budget Considerations

The following rules and requirements apply to designing budgets for the Byrne Program.

Of the amount awarded to a state, the SAA may use up to 10 percent for costs associated with administering these funds. Such types of expenses might include salaries and fringe benefits for agency heads, planners, fiscal officers, statistical analysis center personnel (if part of the SAA by employment or contract), grant managers and monitors, and clerical staff, but only for the portion of time they spend on administering these funds. Funds also may be used for other administrative expenses associated with the program such as travel, training, supplies, equipment, and distribution of documents (Sec. 504(b)).

The Act requires that an SAA pass through a certain amount of funds to local units of government. Furthermore, it sets out that the amount is to be determined by assessing the percentage of state funding as compared to local funding for criminal justice. These assessments are done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and the information is then provided to each state. If an SAA believes these assessments to be in error, the SAA may appeal the percentage by providing alternate, verifiable data that rebut BJS's conclusions (Sec. 506(b)).

The pass-through requirement is a minimum level of funding for local governments, not a ceiling. An SAA is free to pass through as much of its Byrne Award over that amount that it chooses. To calculate the pass-through, subtract administrative funds from the award and then multiply that amount by the pass-through percentage.

Waiver of Pass-Through

If the SAA wishes to fund a project that will be administered by the state but benefit local governments, then this project may be considered part of the pass-through amount if each local jurisdiction that benefits voluntarily signs a waiver. There is no specific format for this waiver, but it should certify that the local jurisdiction understands that the funds in question are set aside for local government use, believes that this program is for local benefit, and understands funding at the state level is a convenience to local government.

Of the funds expended under this program, no more than 75 percent may be federal, with the remaining 25 percent in match from other allowable sources (Sec. 504(a)). The matching requirements for American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Native American Tribes with law enforcement functions that the federal government recognizes are waived (48 U.S.C. 1469a).

• SAAs may impose this matching requirement on a project-by-project basis, with each subgrant required to commit to a 25 percent match, or the SAA may vary this matching requirement so that overall the matching requirement is met.

• The SAA must commit to this matching requirement to receive funds. If all matching funds are not committed, BJA will reduce the overall grant award to compensate for the shortage.

• Federal and matching funds are subject to identical allowable expenditures and all other financial rules.

• Matching funds cannot supplant other funds (see Supplanting).

• The SAA should avoid placing funds other than those strictly required by the grant in the application budget. Any funds listed on the SAA's grant budget, including overmatch, are subject to federal rules and federal audits.

The rules listed here are not exhaustive. For more information, consult the OJP Financial Guide.

The Act requires each SAA to set aside 5 percent of its grant funds for criminal justice records improvement (CJRI) in its state (Sec. 509(a)). The Act also allows the BJA Director to waive the CJRI requirement under certain rare circumstances. These funds must be spent on programs that promote one or more of the following goals:

• Completion of criminal histories to include the final disposition of all arrests for felony offenses.

• Full automation of all criminal justice histories and fingerprint records.

• Enhancement of the frequency and quality of criminal history reports to the FBI.

• Improvement of state records systems and the sharing of all records described above with the Attorney General.

• Improvement of state records systems and the sharing of all the records described above and the child abuse crime records required under the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) among state criminal justice agencies.

The CJRI plan previously submitted needs only to be updated and kept on file.

FYI Note: At this time, the Department of Justice is involved in a departmentwide effort to explore the use of biometric technology to enhance the timeliness and accuracy of criminal identification in the justice system. SAAs are encouraged to review and consider the current status and capacity of state and local automated fingerprint and other biometric systems, and, as appropriate, use the CJRI Set Aside funds to enhance these systems.

Grant funds, which include matching funds, may not be used to replace state or local funds that would, in the absence of federal assistance, be available or forthcoming for law enforcement. Instead, grant funds must be used to increase the total amount of such other funds the grantee agency uses.

A grant recipient may not use federal grant funds to defray any costs that the recipient is already obligated to pay. For example, if a grantee, prior to applying to participate in the grant program, had committed to purchase 10 new computers for crime analysis, then the grantee must purchase those 10 computers in addition to any computers requested for the grant program (Sec. 503(a)(3)).