Final Closeout Reports for FY 2007

State agencies operating the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) in fiscal year (FY) 2007 will be expected to provide final financial and program reports by Jan. 31, 2008. This is the first year that the SFMNP has been administered as a permanent Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) nutrition assistance program governed by final regulations rather than as a competitive grant program. It is also the first year since the SFMNP began that state agencies have been allowed to use any portion of their grants to cover or defray administrative expenses associated with the program.

We have developed a new reporting form that will capture both financial and participation data for each FY closeout report. However, the new form is in clearance and must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We do not expect OMB to approve it in time for use in the FY 2007 closeout process. Therefore, the financial reporting form that was used when the SFMNP was a competitive grant program, the SF-269A, will again be used for the final FY 2007 closeout report, because SFMNP state agencies are already set up to enter their financial data through the Food Program Reporting System (FPRS) for the SF-269A. In addition, the program data required at the end of each year (participation, benefit level, farmers, and authorized outlets – farmers’ markets, roadside stands, community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, and bulk purchases) has traditionally been provided informally to FNS in a format chosen by the state agency.

Please advise the SFMNP state agencies in your Region that the following procedures must be used for closeout in FY 2007:

• Final financial data must be reported on Form SF-269A. This form should be familiar to all of the currently participating SFMNP state agencies. The total Federal grant amount, the amount spent by the state agency, and the amount of unspent Federal SFMNP funds (if any) should be reported as they have been in the past. State agencies should then provide a breakout of their food and administrative funds and expenditures under the “Remarks” section of the form. A sample SFMNP report is attached to this memo as an illustration of how the food and administrative funding breakout should be reported. State agencies should be able to enter this data directly through the national FPRS process. Financial data for the SFMNP must be reported and certified by the state United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service 3101 Park Center Drive Alexandria, VA 22302-1500 agencies no later than January 31, 2008, and must be posted by the FNS Regional Offices no later than February 19, 2008.
• Program data must be reported separately. Section 249.23(b) of the SFMNP regulations sets out the program data that must be reported annually to FNS, specifically:
  1. The number of SFMNP participants served with Federal SFMNP funds;
  2. The value of coupons issued and/or eligible foods ordered under CSA programs;
  3. The value of coupons redeemed and/or eligible foods provided to participants under CSA programs; and
  4. The number of authorized farmers and authorized outlets by type (farmers’ markets, roadside stands, CSA programs, and bulk purchases) for the market season.

A suggested format for reporting this information is attached. The program data which is also due by Jan. 31, 2008, will be collected at the regional level and forwarded to Donna Hines here at Headquarters.

SFMNP state agencies should also be reminded that failure to submit their closeout reports (financial and program data) by the regulatory due date of Jan. 31, 2008, may result in delaying their grant awards for the FY 2008 season. We cannot request apportionment approval from OMB to reallocate FY 2007 unspent funds until all of the final reports have been submitted and the accounts officially closed out.

PATRICIA N. DANIELS
Director
Supplemental Food Programs Division