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Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Division of Energy Assistance/OCS/ACF
LIHEAP Grantee Survey for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2003
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES IN LIHEAP ACTION TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-AT-2004-1, DATED 10/30/03
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) STATE GRANTEES
SUBJECT: LIHEAP Grantee Survey for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2003
RELATED Section 2610(b) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title
REFERENCES: XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law
97-35, as amended; ACF Annual Grantee Survey of the LIHEAP Program,
as approved by OMB (OMB Control No. 0970-0076; Expiration Date - August
30, 2004).
PURPOSE: Section 2610(b) of the LIHEAP statute requires the Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services to submit, no later than June
30 of each fiscal year, a report to Congress on LIHEAP for the prior
fiscal year. In order to prepare the LIHEAP Report to Congress for
FFY 2003, we are requiring State LIHEAP grantees to complete the
LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FFY 2003.
The timeliness and accuracy of the data are very important in:
• submitting fiscal data to Congress in the Department's LIHEAP Report to
Congress for FFY 2003 and
• responding to questions from Congress and the White House, especially
in light of projected increases in fuel costs this winter.
Please fax or e-mail your State's completed Survey to our office by
December 19, 2003. We will follow up both in writing and telephone
calls with those States that fail to meet the reporting deadline, provide
inaccurate survey data, or provide incomplete survey data.
BACKGROUND: The survey data provide a picture of each State's:
• estimates of funds available for LIHEAP and the uses of those funds;
• estimates of average household benefits for each type of LIHEAP
assistance provided by the State (except for weatherization assistance and);
• the maximum income cutoff for a 4-person household in effect on
October 1, 2002 (the beginning of FFY 2003) for each type of LIHEAP
assistance provided by the State.
As in the LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FFY 2002, we are making available
an electronic version of the Survey in addition to the paper version
of the Survey. Your State will receive an e-mail, which will include
the electronic version (an Excel 97 Workbook) of the attached Survey for your State.
We strongly encourage States to use the electronic version of the Survey
as it will:
• assist States in reporting the data in a timely manner through
the use of e-mail;
• assist States in reporting the data in an accurate manner, as the
Survey contains formulas to automatically calculate totals. It
also includes an edit worksheet (see Attachment C) to check for
total sources of funds equaling total uses of funds, and comparing
estimates of uses of funds against the statutory limits such as
the 10 percent limit on administrative costs; (this electronic
editing provides a distinct advantage over completing the paper
version of the Survey) and
• speed up our entering and processing of the data in creating national tables.
CONTENT: Enclosed is your State's LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FFY 2003 (Attachment
A), the instructions for completing the Survey (Attachment B), and
sample edit worksheet (Attachment C).
Pre-printed Information
The Survey is individualized for your State, as we have pre-printed
the following information on the Survey:
• Federally reported amounts of your State's Federal block grant
allotments (net of Indian set-asides), net emergency contingency funds,
and leveraging incentive award funds, as applicable for FFY 2003 (items
1, 2, and 6 under "Estimated Sources of Funds").
• Your State's unobligated FFY 2002 emergency contingency funds and
leveraging incentive funds, as reported in your State's LIHEAP
Grantee Survey for FY 2002 (items 3 and 7 under "Estimated Sources
of Funds").
• Your State's carry over of FFY 2002 funds to FFY 2003, as reported
to us in your State's LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FY 2002 (item
4 under "Estimated Sources of Funds").
• Your State's carry over of FFY 2003 funds to FFY 2004, as reported
to us in your State's Carryover and Reallotment Report for FFY 2003
(item 5 under "Estimated Uses of Funds".
Please update all the preprinted information, as appropriate. The
FFY 2003 federal block grant, emergency contingency funds, and leveraging
funds should be accurate. If the federal data are not correct, please
contact our office to discuss the matter.
Please do not change the format of the Survey by adding or deleting
rows or columns. If the Survey cannot accommodate information that
you need to display, consider using the notes' section or contact our
office to discuss the matter.
Important Points
Your attention to the points below will minimize our need to contact
you for clarification of your survey responses, thus expediting the
completion of the survey process. This will enhance our timeliness
to compile and report the survey's results. We request that particular
attention be paid to the following points:
• The estimated total "Uses of Funds" should equal the total "Sources
of Funds."
• Uses of Funds represent a State's obligation of funds, not expenditure
of funds. (In some cases, obligated block grant funds are not actually
expended until after the end of the FFY.)
Block grant funds that were not obligated by the end of the FFY 2003
are to be reported as funds carried over to FFY 2004, subject to the
10 percent limit.
• Please exclude Department of Energy funds in response to the LIHEAP
weatherization assistance item.
• Please review and respond to all items in the survey, as appropriate.
The types of information requested are noted by the following symbols:
* $0 for financial data (report whole dollars);
* "?" for text information such as listing the source of
other funds and;
* xxxxxx's for items that are not applicable.
• Under Section II , "Estimated Sources of LIHEAP Funds," complete
all 3 columns if responding to item 5.
• Under Section III, "Estimated Uses of LIHEAP Funds," complete all
3 columns if responding to items 1-4. If responding to "other
crisis benefits" in item 3 under Section III, please describe briefly
the purpose of the other crisis benefits.
• Estimated uses of funds should not exceed the statutory limits of :
* 10 percent for administrative costs;
* 15 percent (25 percent with a waiver from HHS) for weatherization;
* 5 percent for assurance 16 activities; and
* no greater than 0.08 percent or $35,000 of funds available for
identifying and developing leveraging resources activities.
The Survey's electronic spreadsheet will calculate values for the items
described above. The calculations will be shown in the Survey Edit
Check tab of the spreadsheet. The Survey Edit Check will indicate
whether "Estimated Total Funds Available" equals "Estimated Total
Uses of Funds," and whether the State's estimates on uses of funds
do not exceed LIHEAP's statutory ceilings. This electronic editing
provides a distinct advantage over completing the paper version of
the Survey.
Please complete the Survey in a timely manner. Do not delay completing
your State's Survey until better information is available. Estimates
of obligated funds are acceptable if actual data of obligated funds
are unavailable.
Again, please send the completed Survey to our office by December
19, 2003.
INQUIRIES TO: Leon Litow, Program Analyst
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Telephone: (202) 401-5304
Fax: (202) 401-5661
E-mail: llitow@acf.hhs.gov
ATTACHMENTS: (A) State's LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FFY 2003
(B) Instructions for the LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FFY 2003
(C) Sample Edit Worksheet
/s
Nick St. Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
Top of Page
URL: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/liheap
Posted on 12/8/03
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