DATE: March 28, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Margaret Mims, Sheriff-Coroner
SUBJECT: Retroactive Grant Application/Award/Agreement for Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (CV HIDTA)
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Retroactively approve and authorize the Sheriff-Coroner to submit grant application and, on behalf of the County, to execute grant application from the Executive Office of the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for the CV HIDTA program in the amount of $766,240;
2. Approve and authorize the Sheriff-Coroner, on behalf of the County, to execute retroactive Grant Agreement Award Number G17CV0004A and approve Grant Conditions from the ONDCP effective January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 ($439,056);
3. Approve and authorize the Sheriff-Coroner, on behalf of the County, to execute retroactive Grant Modification Award Number G17CV0004A (to be received at a future date once funds are released) and approve Grant Conditions from the ONDCP effective January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 ($327,184); and
4. Approve and authorize the Sheriff-Coroner, on behalf of the County, to execute retroactive Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for CV HIDTA Resource Agencies effective January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018.
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Fresno County is the approved fiduciary for the CV HIDTA. The CV HIDTA received a grant application in the amount of $766,240 for the 2017 grant year. The Sheriff-Coroner received the first portion of the Grant Award on February 6, 2017 in the amount of $439,056. ONDCP only released 57% of the Award initially and the rest will be released at a later date. The Sheriff-Coroner is requesting approval to sign the application, award letter (57%), and award modification (43%) (when received) on behalf of the County as ONDCP protocol requires a Law Enforcement Officer’s authorization. Approval of the fourth recommended action will allow the Sheriff-Coroner to execute MOUs with CV HIDTA resource agencies for the new grant period.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended actions are not approved, Fresno County would not receive funding for HIDTA enforcement activities, which would hinder the department’s impact on drug trafficking.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The recommended agreement and MOUs are retroactive due to receipt of the grant application from ONDCP on January 19, 2017.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Sheriff-Coroner’s FY 2016-17 adopted budget Org 3111 for HIDTA activities and will be included in the department’s FY 2017-18 requested budget.
DISCUSSION:
The HIDTA program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States.
Each HIDTA assesses the drug trafficking threat in its defined area for the upcoming year, develops a strategy to address the threat, designs initiatives to implement the strategy, proposes funding needed to carry out the initiatives, and prepares an annual report describing its performance from the previous year. A central feature of the HIDTA program is the discretion granted to the Executive Boards to design and implement initiatives that confront drug trafficking threats in each HIDTA.
On November 4, 2014, your Board approved Fresno County as the fiduciary for the CV HIDTA. On April 26, 2016, your Board approved the Sheriff-Coroner to submit the CV HIDTA grant application for the period of performance from 1/1/2016 to 12/31/2017, and execute the subsequent Grant Agreement Award Number G16CV0004A and MOUs for Resource Agencies of the CV HIDTA. Each HIDTA grant is for a twelve-month period with a two-year spending period for each grant. The MOUs facilitate the transfer of funds between the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office and CV HIDTA Resource Agencies. As the fiduciary agent for the CV HIDTA, the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office processes reimbursement requests from CV HIDTA Resource Agencies for expenditures and overtime.
Every year the CV HIDTA submits a budget request to ONDCP. In June of 2016, the CV HIDTA submitted a budget request to ONDCP for the 2017 grant year in the amount of $766,240. On January 19, 2017, the Sheriff-Coroner received a grant application in the amount of $766,240. On February 6, 2017, the Sheriff-Coroner received an award letter, grant agreement and conditions from ONDCP for 57% of the total award in the amount of $439,056. Once the Board approves the recommended actions, the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office will submit the acceptance of the grant agreement and conditions to the National HIDTA Assistance Center (NHAC). In addition, once the award modification with the additional 43% of funding is received (which is expected to be released by ONDCP at a later date) and executed by the Sheriff-Coroner, it will be submitted to the NHAC to become the final agreement between the County and the ONDCP.
The current initiative summary of the award outlines the following allocations for which Fresno County will be the responsible fiduciary:
Agency Amount % of Total Allocation
Fresno County Admin $85,782 11%
Fresno County Operations $255,700 33%
Merced County Task Force $143,344 19%
Southern Tri-County Task Force $281,414 37%
TOTAL $766,240 100%
Approval of the fourth recommended action will allow the Sheriff-Coroner to execute MOUs for the new grant period. Other Law Enforcement Resource Agencies involved in the CV HIDTA, including but not limited to, are as follows:
• Atwater Police Department
• Bakersfield Police Department
• California Department of Justice
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• California Highway Patrol
• Fresno Police Department
• Kern County Sheriff’s Department
• Kings County Sheriff’s Department
• Livingston Police Department
• Los Banos Police Department
• Merced County Probation
• Merced Police Department
• Merced Sheriff’s Department
• Tulare Sheriff’s Department
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI # 21, November 4, 2014
BAI # 31, April 26, 2016
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Grant Application
On file with Clerk - HIDTA 2017 Grant Award/Agreement
On file with Clerk - MOUs with CV HIDTA Agencies
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa