ATTACHMENT C – BUDGET NARRATIVE TEMPLATE

Overview

· MDH strongly recommends that Applicants use Attachment B - ACCESS Budget Narrative Workbook to complete their Budget Narrative. This Microsoft Excel workbook includes automatic calculation functions designed to facilitate budget development while reducing the risk of calculation errors that may be detrimental to Application scoring.

· Applicants that submit a complete ACCESS Budget Narrative Workbook are not required to submit a text document version of the Budget Narrative as well.

· Applicants may choose to submit the Budget Narrative as a text document (Microsoft Word preferred) in lieu of the ACCESS RFA Budget Narrative Workbook. This document is provided by MDH as a template for capturing the required budget detail and justification.

Instructions for Using This Document

1. Obtain Applicant-specific Annual Funding Limit: Download and open the ACCESS Budget Narrative Workbook and follow the instruction on the “Summary” worksheet to obtain the specific one-year funding limit that applies to your organization. Copy the amount into the “Annual Funding Limit” field (green shaded) in the “Budget Summary” table, below.

2. IDC Rate: Enter your indirect cost rate in the field below.

3. Budget Detail and Justification: Complete separate tables for each budget category with the required information and calculations for each specific line item. Provide a narrative justification for each line item in a bulleted or numbered list below each table. Follow the guidance in RFA Section 4.4.5, copied below:

· Salary: For each position, include the position title, name of the person in the position (if applicable), annual salary, annual % effort, and total salary cost.

· Fringe: For each position, include the cost for fringe benefits including health insurance, retirement, etc. Fringe costs may be calculated as a percentage of salary or itemized. If the Applicant wishes to provide additional information about the fringe calculation method being used, it should be included in the “Justification” field for the associated position listed under the Salary budget category. For Applicants that meet the definition of a “social organization” in RFA Section 2.1.1 (i.e. private nonprofit organizations), the total fringe cost for a position cannot exceed 37.81% of the position’s total salary cost. For Applicants that are a local or state government agency, public college, or state university, fringe costs should be calculated in accordance with applicable agency budget guidelines, including annually updated budget guidance issued by the Maryland Department of Budget and Management, as appropriate.

· Travel: Include costs for in-state and out-of-state travel for employees or volunteers, including estimated mileage, airfare, lodging, etc.

· Equipment: Include costs for all durable goods with a useful life of one year or more and a unit cost of $5,000 or more.

· Supplies: Include costs for supplies and other non-equipment materials necessary to implement the project or deliver services. Supply costs should be calculated based on a standard cost per unit of goods to be purchased.

· Contractual: Include total costs for all subcontractors or subrecipients with a narrative description of the services they will provide to the Applicant.

· Other: Include any other allowable costs that do not follow into the preceding categories.

· Indirect costs (IDC): Identify the Applicant’s IDC rate used to calculate indirect costs as a percentage of total direct costs

4. Budget Summary: Update the totals for each budget category in the Budget Summary table, ensuring that they align with the totals from each budget category-specific table.

5. Check Budget Total: Ensure that the budget total does not exceed the funding limit.

Applicant Name:

Indirect Cost (IDC) Rate:

I. Budget Summary

Annual Funding Limit[footnoteRef:1] [1: Use Attachment B - ACCESS Budget Narrative Workbook to determine the applicant-specific annual funding limit.]

II. Salary

Salary Justification

III. Fringe

Fringe Justification

IV. Travel

Travel Justification

V. Equipment

Equipment Justification

VI. Supplies

Supplies Justification

VII. Contractual

Contractual Justification

VIII. Other

Other Justification