Alternate Financial Reconciliation Requirements for
MDH Grants to Community Health Boards
Background
In August 2011, the Minnesota Office of Grants Management (OGM) amended a grant management policy that
allowed state agencies to either conduct a financial reconciliation of grantees’ expenditures at least once during
the grant period on grants of over $50,000. Or, state agencies could develop and file an agency reconciliation
plan for approval by the OGM.
In early 2013, the MDH submitted an alternate plan to OGM on how MDH would conduct financial reconciliation
for grants to CHBs. During 2013, MDH piloted that original exception request with five CHBs. The purpose of the
pilot was to:
• Better understand the financial reconciliation process;
• Assess the capacity of MDH and CHBs to carry out the new procedures; and
• Engage CHBs in identifying alternate solutions to help MDH meet the intent of the policy.
While MDH found no major concerns during the pilot process, CHBs had concerns about the amount of time it
took to gather documentation and produce paper reports from the supporting systems. The following alternate
reconciliation plan was submitted and approved by OGM in April 2014.
Approved Alternate Reconciliation Plan
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Continue existing monitoring activities:
o WIC – no changes. Site visits and financial reconciliations once every two years as required by
federal regulations.
o Continue programmatic site visits and monitoring (e.g. PPMRS).
o Continue grant reimbursement as the standard.
Local Public Health Act funding removed from reconciliation requirement. No general ledger review
required for Local Public Health Act funds.
All Other MDH Grants to Local Public Health:
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MDH staff will gather and annually review findings from county or Single Audits already completed for
the county and/or fiscal host for the Community Health Boards.
MDH will create a questionnaire about changes to systems, personnel, procedures and programs for
Community Health Boards without an annual audit to capture similar information for the annual review.
o Any concerns identified in audit or questionnaire may lead to more thorough financial
reconciliation or request for source documentation.
All MDH grant programs over $50,000 will require a copy of the general ledger with at least one invoice
submission during the grant period and review prior to payment. MDH may request additional info as/if
needed.
MDH will survey grants management staff at MDH every few years to identify concerns with grantees or
procedures.
MDH will create additional guidance for CHBs through toolkits/technical assistance to address concerns
around common grant expenses.
MDH will seek feedback about the alternate reconciliation process from local public health at least every
three years to continue improving this process and provide updates to the Office of Grants Management
as needed.