Budget Information

Cost information for selected items is provided below to assist applicants in preparing their budgets. Additional information is available in the DOJ Financial Guide.

Consultants/Contracts

Compensation for services by an individual consultant must be reasonable and consistent with that paid for similar services in the marketplace. Applicants must consider the type of services provided and the individual’s experience and expertise when deciding if a consultant’s rate is reasonable. Applicants are strongly discouraged from requesting consultant rates over $650 per day. Please note that the rate does not need to be as high as $650 for all consultants. If a project is selected for funding with a budget allocating more than $650 per day to a consultant, the applicant must provide additional information to OVW for review and approval before consultant costs are incurred. Applicants must also include all costs associated with consultants or contractors in the “Procurement Contracts” category, including travel-related costs. Applicants should not reflect these costs in the Personnel or Travel categories. 

Applicants must follow the same established procurement policies with federal funds as with non-federal funds. All procurement transactions, including the awarding of consultant contracts, must be conducted in a manner that provides maximum open, free, and fair competition, and must follow 2 C.F.R. §§ 200.317-200.327. All sole-source procurements (not awarded competitively) over $250,000 require prior approval from OVW. This applies to procurements of goods and services, but not to selection of subrecipients. 

MOU Partner/Subrecipient versus Contractor Determination

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) project partners are generally considered subrecipients for time spent working on program objectives. The following MOU project partner responsibilities are consistent with the characteristics in 2 C.F.R. § 200.331 that support their classification as subrecipients:

• they are using federal funds to carry out a program for a public purpose specified in the authorizing statute;
• they are responsible for adherence to program requirements;
• they are responsible for programmatic decision-making;
• their performance is measured by meeting program objectives; and
• in some cases, they may be responsible for determining who is eligible to receive assistance (services) under the grant award.

In contrast, a contractor:

• provides goods and services within normal business operations;
• provides similar good and services to many different purchasers;
• normally operates in a competitive environment;
• provides goods and services that are ancillary to the operation of the program; and
• provides goods or services to which programmatic requirements generally do not apply. 

For additional information on determining subrecipient or contractor designation, please refer to 2 C.F.R. § 200.331, as well as the Application Companion Guide.

Compensation for Partners

In developing budgets, applicants should compensate all project partners for their participation in project-related activities, including but not limited to compensation for time and travel expenses to participate in project development, training, and implementation. The budget must include compensation for all services rendered by project partners, including nonprofit, nongovernmental domestic violence and/or sexual assault services programs, and state and tribal domestic violence and/or sexual assault coalitions. Partners are generally considered subrecipients and are reimbursed for their actual costs incurred for the project rather than on a fee for service basis. If a partner is a state or local governmental agency and the partnership duties are performed within the course of the agency’s “regular” scope of work, applicants do not need to compensate the partner if the partner: a) offers this arrangement; and b) an explanation of this arrangement is included in the application (typically in the MOU).

Training and Technical Assistance/Travel

The program solicitation specifies the amount of grant funds that must be budgeted for training and technical assistance. These funds must only be used for OVW-designated technical assistance, unless otherwise approved by OVW. These funds are to be used to support travel by all project partners, including nonprofit, nongovernmental service providers, to technical assistance events. This may include travel by individuals whose positions are not grant-funded if their roles and responsibilities are linked to the purpose of the project. If the technical assistance funds will be shared between the applicant and any project partners, the applicant’s employees’ travel costs must be listed in the “Travel” category in the budget, and partners’ travel must be in the “Subawards” category. Label both costs as “OVW Technical Assistance” and ensure they total to the full required amount. Do not include registration fees, as OVW technical assistance is free for grantees.

If applicants are aware of relevant non-OVW sponsored conferences or training for which they would like permission to use grant funds to attend, they can budget expenses over the required amount. 

Rent

Rental costs are generally allowable under OVW programs. Applicants must list square footage and cost per square foot in the budget. The amount must be based on the space that will be allocated to implement the OVW project, not the costs of the entire rental facility. Rental costs are not allowable for property owned by the applicant or if the applicant has a financial interest in the property. In this case, only the costs of ownership, including maintenance costs, insurance, depreciation, utilities, etc., are allowable. The applicant must state in the budget narrative whether they own the space that will be rented. Refer to the following document for more information on how to appropriately allocate and break down the cost of rent in the budget: Cost Allocation Information.

Audit Costs

Costs for audits not required or performed in accordance with 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart F – Audit Requirements are unallowable. If the applicant agency did not meet the applicable expenditure threshold (see 2 C.F.R. § 200.501) during the organization’s fiscal year, they may not charge the cost of any audit performed to the grant. 

Indirect Costs

Applicants that intend to charge indirect costs through the use of a negotiated indirect cost rate must have a current, signed, federally approved indirect cost rate agreement and must upload and attach a copy of the agreement to their application in JustGrants. Applicants that do not have a current federal negotiated indirect cost rate (including provisional rate), may elect to charge a de minimis rate of up to 15% of modified total direct costs (MTDC).

Organizations that wish to negotiate an indirect cost rate should contact OVW’s Grants Financial Management Division at OVW.GFMD@usdoj.gov or (888) 514-8556 for more information. Applicants may also choose to waive indirect costs. 

Purchase and/or Lease of Vehicles

The purchase and lease of vehicles are prohibited under most OVW grant programs. However, some programs allow for purchasing vehicles on a case-by-case basis. Refer to the program solicitation to determine whether vehicles can be purchased or leased. A lease/purchase analysis must be submitted with the application if requesting a vehicle. 

Non-Federal Ccontributions

Any non-federal contributions can be discussed in the Proposal Narrative or Memorandum of Understanding (if required). Applicants should not include supplemental contributions in the budget, budget narrative, or SF-424. 

If the applicant voluntarily decides to provide matching funds through the use of in-kind contributions and includes this information in the budget or budget narrative, the voluntary contributions will become a mandatory requirement under the grant award. Grantees that fail to provide these mandatory matching funds through cash or in-kind contributions during the award period may be required to meet their obligation by making a cash payment to OVW to close out the grant award. 

Cost Allocations

Costs for shared items, those not used solely for the award, should be equitably distributed to the funding sources that receive a benefit from the items. For example, when budgeting for general office supplies, it is important to note that the full cost cannot be allocated to the project. Instead, an allocation method should be used to share the cost among all staff who use the supplies. Refer to the following document for information on allocating shared costs in the budget: Cost Allocation Information.

Accessibility

The program solicitation requires that the applicant include sufficient funds to provide language access or describe other resources available to the applicant to ensure meaningful access for persons with limited English proficiency, including by offering translation and interpretation services, and to provide access for people with disabilities or who are Deaf/hard of hearing. Determining how much to budget for accessibility requires that recipients analyze the following:

• Available data about the local population to understand the language and accessibility needs in their service area;
• Historical data on screening and serving individuals who are LEP, Deaf or Hard of Hearing, or disabled; and
• Costs or documented estimates of language and other accessibility services and modifications in the service area. For resources and assistance in this process, visit https://www.justice.gov/atj and https://www.lep.gov/.       

Recipients should make every effort to use these funds for their budgeted purpose of providing accessibility, and not reallocate them for other purposes later in the project.