TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM

 

DATE:   August 12, 2024

TO:       Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

             Board Members

FROM:  Tegin Teich, Executive Director

RE:        Recommended Revisions to the FFY 2024 UPWP

 

This memo contains Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff recommendations for modifications to the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), forming Amendment Three to the FFY 2024 UPWP. Each year, staff perform a thorough assessment of the spending patterns in the first three quarters of the fiscal year to propose a slate of adjustments to the UPWP for the fourth quarter. The proposed budget adjustments, shown in Table 1, have a net zero impact on the UPWP budget.

 

Budget adjustments are needed during the fiscal year for two primary reasons. The first is staff turnover and the time it takes to recruit and train new staff. When staff resign from the MPO, there is a gap before a replacement is hired. While we use and reallocate staff capacity as fluidly as possible to meet project needs, staffing gaps can result in lower expenditures than expected on certain UPWP line items.

 

The second is that project or line item needs may evolve after the UPWP is developed. Initial budget estimates for each program and project within the UPWP are developed in the spring, approximately six months before work commences. This allows the UPWP to be approved in the summer, in advance of the start of the FFY. Once work is in progress, however, additional adjustments may need to be made. This can affect how much staff time or effort is needed for one project or line item versus another.

 

This amendment additionally programs $150,000 awarded through the Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity grant, managed by the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation and funded by the Federal Transit Administration. Through this grant, MPO staff will design a pilot to supplement the MBTA’s low-income fare program with access to low-cost community electric vehicle car-sharing options for affordable housing residents in Revere, Chelsea, and Everett. MPO staff will undertake this work in partnership with Good2Go, a nonprofit electric vehicle carshare organization, with support from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Union Capital, and The Neighborhood Developers.

 

Separate from the budget adjustments, the UPWP Committee members and MPO board members are asked to consider an updated description to a line item added in Amendment One, approved in February 2024. That amendment incorporated deobligated PL funds into the FFY 2024 UPWP for five purposes. The notice to proceed (NTP) for the use of those funds was received in June 2024, at which time the proposed use for one of the five purposes was reassessed in order to maximize the ability to spend the available funds by the end of the FFY, which ends on September 30.

 

The revised description and justification for the change can be found below. To see more detail about Amendment One, see the February 1, 2024, memo.[1] The revised description does not affect the dollar amount associated with the UPWP line item and does not constitute a fiscal amendment.

 

Original title: Extending the availability of $50,000 to commence the development of an information technology (IT) strategy.

 

Context: Staff prepared a request-for-quote (RFQ) but did not receive consultant responses, making it unlikely that it will be possible to complete any or most of the anticipated work by the end of the FFY. The MPO will seek opportunities to secure consultants for and fund the IT strategy in FFY 2025, and in the meantime, use the available FFY 2024 funds to support related efforts through part-time temporary or consultant help.

 

New description: Extending the availability of $50,000 to hire temporary part-time/consultant help for the following purposes:

·       work with the staff system administrator to resolve pending and backlog of IT tasks through September 30, 2024. This includes the preparation of 60 employee laptops coming through on a new lease.

·       assist the Manager of IT in developing background materials for the website redesign RFQ planned for issue in Fall 2024.

 

Thank you for your time in reviewing these recommended adjustments. MPO staff would be happy to discuss and answer any questions from board members. After a discussion, we hope that you will agree with these recommended modifications. We request that you then vote to waive the 21-day public comment period and endorse Amendment Three to the FFY 2024 UPWP on August 15, 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1
FFY 2024 UPWP Amendment Three

For Placement