Today, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued new Post-Application guidance for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Program.
This guidance spells out new details regarding the budget adjustment, auditing, and reporting requirements for grantees and will be supplemented with technical assistance and SBA webinars in the weeks (and months) to come. Even as the SBA continues to finalize offers of initial and supplemental awards, all grantees are encouraged to take a close look at this new guidance for important information about how SVOG funds may be used, and to plan for complying with federal grant requirements.
Supplemental Awards: The SBA continues to work on correcting a system error that has resulted in the miscalculation of supplemental grant awards, and anticipates that a solution may be in place by the end of this week. Until then, supplemental funds disbursements are still slowed, as is the issuance of Notices of Award (NOAs). The pace is expected to pick up next week.
Coming in Mid-November – Reconsideration for All Grantees: The SBA will be offering all grantees an opportunity to provide revised revenue numbers and seek a revised corresponding grant amount. Once the SBA has completed all initial and supplemental award issuance, it will launch a “2.0” grant reconsideration process. This will be activated as a new action item posted in every grantee’s portal inviting them to correct any mistakes made in reported revenue or business start date. This is distinct from the initial reconsideration process as it will not require a $100 variance in the amount of award compared to the total anticipated in a grantee’s application. There will be a two-week window of time for responding to this action item, and those that do not opt in will begin receiving action items to initiate finalizing the grant budget, and all subsequent grant completion steps.
Beginning Early December - Monitoring, Auditing, and Closeout Process: The new Post Application Guidance provides details regarding the “Active Grantee” phase and “Closeout” phase of the SVOG grant process. The SBA anticipates that these steps of the process will begin after the Reconsideration 2.0 phase concludes.
- The SBA will issue a final budget action item in December, offering grantees a two-week window to accept the budget in place or reallocate expenses within allowable budget cost areas.
- Once the SBA reviews and approves the final grantees budget, the three-part closeout process may begin.
- Grantees may complete the close-out process after grant funds have been completely expended, and no later than 120 days after the end of the Budget Period (“Through” date in a grantee’s notice of award, Form 1222 Box 5). The post-application guidance includes information regarding documentation requirements, and more details will be issued soon related to reporting requirements for equipment and supplies.
- Audit requirements for grantees are described in the Post-Application guidance. Theatres will note that separate audit requirements apply to nonprofit and for-profit grantees, which is a requirement of broader, underlying federal grant regulations.
As your theatre reviews the Post-Application Guidance, please send any unanswered questions to lbaskin@tcg.org. TCG remains in direct dialogue with the SBA regarding next steps in the SVOG program. The agency is aiming to streamline all next steps in the SVOG compliance process and will be preparing further technical assistance and webinars for grantees. Your input will inform our interactions with the SBA.