Economic Recovery Home > Guidance > Section 1201 > June 26 and July 1

FHWA Additional Guidance on Section 1201 Maintenance of Effort

Question 1: Please clarify whether the certified MOE amount should include bond proceeds expenditures, or expenditures for the repayment of bonds. (June 26, 2009)

Answer 1: The MOE amount should include amounts the State planned to expend on projects from bond proceeds during the period from February 17, 2009 through September 30, 2010. The MOE amount should not include expenditures for the repayment of bonds.

Question 2: Please clarify what is meant by "in-kind contributions" that count towards the MOE amount. (June 26, 2009)

Answer 2: An in-kind contribution is something of value that is applied to a project that counts towards the State match on a project. A good example is when a State donates right-of-way to a project and counts the value of that land toward the required State match. Under this example, if a State was planning to donate right-of-way to a project of the type eligible for funding under the Recovery Act during the timeframe (February 17, 2009 through September 30, 2010), the State should include the dollar value of the land in their certified MOE amount. The normal rules governing what types of in-kind match are acceptable still apply.

Question 3: Should States include in their MOE certified amount the State funds provided to local communities or other entities for transportation projects of the types eligible for funding under the Recovery Act? (July 1, 2009)

Answer 3: Yes. The Recovery Act requires the MOE certification to include planned expenditures from State sources regardless which agency or political subdivision in the State is responsible for overseeing the expenditure of those funds. Therefore, States that provide State funding to local governments or agencies other than the State DOT for transportation projects that are of the type that could be funded using Recovery Act dollars should include all funds that the State or local government planned to expend on projects that are of the type that could be funded using Recovery Act dollars. This is true even if certain amounts of the State funds are allocated to local entities by constitutional or statutory law. The MOE amount does not include any locally-generated funds (i.e., funds produced by local taxes or assessments) even if those funds are transferred to a State DOT for purposes of carrying out a project for a local government.

For more information on the inclusion of State funds to local governments in the MOE certification and reports, please see the September 24 FHWA guidance.

Question 4: May the States file amended section 1201(a) MOE certifications after the Division reviews are done? (July 1, 2009, revised September 24, 2009)

Answer 4: Yes. The Office of the Secretary will establish a final deadline for filing amended MOE certifications. Amended certifications should be filed by transmittal to Joel Szabat at TigerTeam@dot.gov, and the States should copy the Division Administrator. We also ask that Division Administrators forward such filings to Janet Myers and Nicolle Fleury, to ensure prompt processing and posting on the U.S. DOT Recovery Act web site.