Agenda - Council - 04/25/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Circumstances Lack of Available Acquisition Opportunity Funds If funds are not available to fully fund a grant during a given fiscal year, up to 60% of the next fiscal year's appropriation and matching Council bonds for Park Acquisition Opportunity Fund accounts will be used to reimburse park agencies for up to 75% of the grant-eligible acquisition costs or $1.7 million - whichever is less - the park agency incurred to buy land that would have qualified for a Park Acquisition Opportunity Fund grant under the rules. The park agency must request reimbursement consideration from the Council by providing all data required for a Park Acquisition Opportunity Fund grant required by the rules and obtain Council approval before it acquires the land. The 25% match is not grant-eligible for reimbursement from the Park Acquisition Opportunity Fund accounts. However, the park agency may request reimbursement of that match as part of its share of future park capital improvement programs. Third-party Acquisitions When funds are not available in the Acquisition Opportunity Fund accounts, park implementing agencies may choose to work with third parties to acquire Council-approved master plan acquisitions, for which reimbursement from the Council would be pursued when funds are available. In this instance, the Council may consider acquisition with a bonafide deferred closing. Excess of Available Acquisition Opportunity Funds One year before the expiration of the state appropriation to each Park Acquisition Opportunity Fund Grant account (that is, PTLF and ENRTF), the Council - in consultation with the regional park implementing agencies and the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission - will conduct a review of these rules to determine if additional steps should be taken to increase the likelihood that the balance of the expiring state appropriation will be granted and spent before its expiration date. An example of such a step would be to allow a park agency that has received the maximum amount allowed - $1.7 million from the ENRTF account or $1.7 million from the PTLF account in a state fiscal year, July 1 to June 30 to be eligible to receive an additional grant. Another step could be that 60 days before a state appropriation's expiration date, that grants are awarded to partially reimburse the local match of grants awarded from the applicable acquisition account that were initially financed with that state appropriation and matching Council bonds. The total amount of these reimbursement grants would consume the remaining state appropriation and applicable Council bond match. The amount of each reimbursement grant should be proportionate to the local match amount initially funded by each park agency - not with other funding sources the park agency used as their match. These reimbursement grants would only be for grants initially financed from that soon-to-expire state appropriation and applicable Council bond match. If there were still funds remaining, reimbursement grants for the local matches on other acquisitions could be considered that were initially financed from that acquisition account but from an earlier appropriation. Such variances to the rules for these situations would be considered by the Council without undertaking a public hearing process since the vetting of the changes is made by the park agencies affected by the