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URGENT NOTICE

The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, to ensure that BIL and IRA funding appropriated to Indian Affairs is obligated for intended purposes, has directed BIA and OSG to work with Tribes and Tribal Organizations to execute funding agreement documents to formally obligate such funding prior to January 19, 2025.  A formal obligation of funds will preserve them from being rescinded and retracted from availability.

If your Self-Governance Tribe or Tribal Organization has received an award notice for BIL or IRA funding for Tribal Climate Resilience, Electrification, Fire, or Transportation, please have your designated tribal self-governance coordinator work quickly with your assigned OSG compact negotiator to complete BIL/IRA funding documents.  This may include funding agreement amendments and construction addenda.

A model SG construction addendum, the most efficient means towards formal fund obligation, is the basis for draft addenda sent to tribal self-governance coordinators.  Construction addenda include a project scope of work and budget as approved by the respective federal program.

Your cooperation to help preserve and utilize Indian Affairs’ BIL and IRA funding is appreciated.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please be sure to review each sheet.

• All BIA and BIE tables are maintained separately, therefore data needs to be entered in separate tables.
• There are two Salaries worksheets and two Hours worksheets making a total of four to complete, apart from Alaska and Pacific who will be further broken out by agency due to size.

1. SALARIES WORKSHEET
   • Enter Tribal base salaries (no benefits) that are paid out of each budgeted program line.
   • This exercise is for recurring annual salaries, any salaries incurred as a result of one-time funding should NOT be counted.
   • Enter salaries in actual dollars ($25,000 -- NOT 25.000).
   • PY Actual salaries (2024) should be used. (This is the same basis used for calculating Federal paycost.)
   • If a Tribe utilizes the Consolidated Tribal Government Program (CTGP), please enter total TPA salaries on the CTGP line.  This will avoid the need to reprogram paycost amounts after Enacted.
   • Please be mindful of existing formulas when working in the provided worksheets, do not add or delete lines or formulas.
   • Regions are responsible for collecting paycost data for all Self Governance (SG) Tribes.
     • SG Tribes may choose to break out their salaries to the individual programs but in the total column these will be rolled into the single Self-Governance line.
     • SG Tribes are not held to the TPA Base Check as compacts include other non-TPA funds.
   • TPA Base Check at the bottom of salaries worksheet
     • Salaries reported for TPA lines cannot be higher than the total PY base funding (2024) for that Tribe.

• This does NOT apply to SG Tribes as compacts include other non-TPA funds.

• Year of Data table at the bottom of salaries worksheet
  • Indicate whether each Tribe’s information is current with an “X” in the appropriate box OR the year of salary data “YYYY” if last available.
  • If a Tribe does not submit salary info, please use their last available information. 
  • There is a 4-year limit of no response, after which the Tribe will not be eligible for pay increases. To resume/continue pay increases the Tribe must submit updated salary info during the open data call timeframe established for the BY.
• Zero Salaries Explanation at the bottom of salaries worksheet
  • If zero salaries reported for any Tribe, written confirmation from the Region for each of those instances is required.

2. HOURS WORKSHEET
   • This is a formula driven worksheet which will generate the FTE automatically based on the total hours entered.
     • The total hours entered should be for the annual salaries reported in the Salaries worksheets.
   • FTE Q&A worksheet included in each file to help answer commonly asked questions with examples.

The Office of Indian Services-Division of Human Services is hosting three (3) virtual FASSR training sessions and technical assistance opportunities. These sessions are specifically designed for programs who operate on a calendar year, but all programs are welcome to participate.  

Training Dates (same material covered each session):   

• December 11, 2024 -12:30 PM EST
• January 8, 2025 - 12:30 PM EST
• January 10, 2025 -12:30 PM EST

The training will focus on completing the FASSR report and a reviewing the program components checklist.  Accuracy in the FASSR is essential, as it determines all funding distributions.  Documents provided during the training:  FASSR excel document and FASSR program component checklist. Link to FASSR:  https://www.bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/financial-assistance

Please forward this training invitations to programs. Registration is required for the training by clicking on the link for the training sessions. 

The Office of Indian Services Department of Human Services (OIS-DHS) has scheduled FASSR training on October 21 and 23.   It will be the same training with two dates to select from and is open to all programs who operate a welfare assistance program.  For those unable to attend one of the training sessions, OIS-DHS has provided a quick reference guide. Please click HERE to download.

• October 21, 2024, at 12:30 EST
  • Join the meeting now
  • Meeting ID: 211 431 298 869
  • Passcode: PwdbhU
• October 23, 2024, at 12:30 EST
  • Join the meeting now
  • Meeting ID: 253 759 645 737
  • Passcode: gzrYU5