Memo Text
The purpose of this Commissioner's Memo is to provide guidance to Arkansas
LEAs. LEAs using a combination and/or all generations of federal relief funds
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), having capital outlay
expenses of a single project totaling $1 million or more in the areas of major
construction projects or acquisition of real estate, must record the federal
government’s interest. The document is referred to as a Notice of Federal
Interest (NFI) and is recorded through the local county recorder’s
office
Reporting:
The reporting requirement (2 CFR
§ 200.330), set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
provides that grant and subgrant recipients must report annually, for at least
the first 15 years, on the status of the real property in which the Federal
government has made a monetary investment and therefore has an ongoing
interest. The Federal interest recording requirement (2 CFR
§ 200.316), in combination with the OMB construction grant
assurances, provides Federal agencies with discretion as to when recipients are
required to locally record notices of Federal interest (or other public notices
of record, such as liens) regarding that Federal interest. In general, these
longstanding requirements help ensure that a facility can continue to be used
for educational purposes after a grant has ended; establish the level of public
investment in the facility that may be recouped if the property is subsequently
transferred to private ownership; and promotes nondiscrimination, including
accessibility, while the property is used for a grant’s educational purpose.
Grantees or subgrantees with a renovation, major
remodeling, construction, or real property project where the Federal interest
is significant—typically, that use more than $1 million in COVID-19
relief funds—must record the notice of Federal interest (NFI) in
the official real property records for the jurisdiction in which the improved
or purchased property is located. All grantees and subgrantees that have a
renovation, major remodeling, construction, or real property project of $1
million or more in funds from these programs must record all NFIs by January 28, 2025.