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Section 2: Project Negotiation Process

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Introduction

The TxDOT Traffic Safety Division - Behavioral Traffic Safety Section (TRF-BTS) staff initiates grant agreement negotiations with state agencies and other organizations sponsoring approved projects with statewide impact. TRF-BTS Traffic Safety Specialists (TSSs) negotiate with local governments and other entities to finalize local projects.

TRF-BTS TSSs are assigned as project managers for local projects, and in some cases may be assigned statewide projects, and the TRF-BTS Program Managers are assigned projects under the applicable program areas. Project negotiation, also entitled “Project Modifications” by the Traffic Safety Electronic Grants Management System (eGrants), begins at this time, with project development negotiations.

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Negotiation

Negotiation allows the Project Manager and the approved subgrantee to arrive at an understanding on the specific details of the project (such as budget detail amounts, Selective Traffic Enforcement Program [STEP] sites, etc.), so that agreement preparation can proceed. Negotiating involves discussion, clarification, or modifications to the proposed project. Items to be discussed during the negotiation phase include, but are not limited to, the following:

NOTE: An awarding agency may review the adequacy of the financial management system of any applicant for financial assistance as part of the pre-award review, or at any time subsequent to award.

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Negotiation Guidance

The following are some guiding questions to assist the Project Manager and the subgrantee to ensure adequate resource allocation and to determine if the project objectives, performance measures and goals are workable and achievable as proposed.

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  • Do the objectives and performance measures directly address the identified problem?
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  • Are the objectives clearly stated and achievable?
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  • Will performance measures provide adequate evidence of project activity and accomplishment of objectives?
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  • Are personnel needs accurately identified? For example:
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    • If a grant objective requires engineering studies, an engineer must be involved.
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    • If an objective involves Public Information and Education (PI&E), does the subgrantee have the resources available to perform and meet the objective? Is the subgrantee aware of TxDOT’s traffic safety PI&E policies, and are they able to meet the requirements?
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    • If the objective(s) involve law enforcement, are a sufficient number of appropriately trained officers available?
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  • Have all scoring team internal comments for the proposal been reviewed and addressed?
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  • Are there other considerations that might affect project performance? If so, are they adequately addressed?
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Cost Analysis

The Project Manager will review all proposed costs to determine that they are necessary, reasonable, and in compliance with applicable cost principles. The TxDOT Compliance Division (CMP) is available to assist in the analysis if requested to do so.

To review all proposed costs, the Project Manager should:

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  • Ensure that all necessary costs have been identified in the proposal.
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  • Review any justifications for the proposed costs.
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  • Review each proposed cost element for necessity, reasonableness and consistency with the proposal.
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  • Identify any cost element that requires more explanation or justification and that appears too high or too low.
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  • Review subcontracts, when they are proposed, using the same steps.

See the following subsections for some guiding questions to assist the Project Manager in conducting a cost analysis of proposed costs to ensure that all budgeted items are deemed to be necessary and reasonable to carry out program objectives.

Salaries and Fringe Benefits

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  • Are the number of staff and staff hours proposed consistent with operational requirements? If not, are they too high or too low?
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  • Does the proposal contain a satisfactory rationale for determining the number of positions for each operational area?
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  • If subcontracted staff is proposed, is it excluded from the proposer’s direct staffing? Has the proposing agency submitted a subcontractor’s proposal or other data enabling the analysis of subcontractor staff levels and costs?
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  • Are position levels proposed commensurate with skill levels needed to carry out functions? Are they too high or too low?
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  • Are the proposed rates consistent with prevailing area rates? If not, can the reasons for the differences be identified and justified?
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  • Does the proposal break out the components of the fringe benefit package? Does the fringe rate package conform to the proposing agency’s policy, and is it made up of usual and reasonable components?

Travel Costs

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  • Are local travel costs explained in the proposal? Are destinations, frequency, and distances identified? Are they necessary and reasonable?
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  • Is the mileage rate for local travel consistent with the proposing agency’s policies as well as TxDOT’s travel policies?
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  • Are out-of-town trips fully identified and justified in the proposal? Are they necessary and reasonable?
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  • Are airfare, hotel and lodging costs consistent with the proposing agency and TxDOT policy?

Equipment and Supplies

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  • Will any special equipment be needed? If so, will it be available for project implementation?
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  • Does the proposal for equipment and office supplies provide an explanation for the budgeted items? Does the proposal describe the basis for its proposed unit costs? Is it historical or based on current price quotes?
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  • Are the estimated quantity and/or unit prices reasonable and are the items necessary to fulfill project objectives?

Other Costs

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  • Are proposed PI&E purchases necessary, reasonable and consistent with the proposal to carry out program objectives?
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  • Where indirect costs are proposed, has the agency attached to the proposal an approved indirect cost rate or cost allocation plan? Are there costs included in the indirect rate that could be charged directly elsewhere in the proposal? If there is doubt, has the agency been requested to demonstrate how it allocated these costs and how it segregated direct from indirect costs? Does the approved rate cover the period of proposal and grant?
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  • Does the subgrantee have a method of allocating costs which reflects the relative degree of benefit for all programs sharing the allocated cost (described in Chapter 3, Section 6)?
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  • Where printing or copying of materials is proposed, does the proposing agency present any explanation and justification of the nature and quantity of materials to be printed or photocopied?
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  • Are facility costs reasonable given the location of the facility and its proposed use? Are the costs of utilities and maintenance of the space broken out separately? If so, are these costs already included in the lease payment that the proposing agency will make and which it is already charging to the grant for the apportioned share of the space?
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  • Are telephone, postage and insurance costs adequately identified in the proposal? Are they necessary, reasonable and consistent with the proposal’s problem solution?
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Modification Process

If a proposal requires modifications, the Project Manager assigned to the proposal will initiate the modification process. Proposal issues to be negotiated or modified arise from the internal comments from the individual members of the proposal scoring teams and from the Project Manager if they did not score the proposal. The Project Manager reviews all internal comments and determines the applicability of the comments for proposal modification. A due date is established each year to submit modifications.

If proposal modifications are necessary, the modification process is as follows:

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  1. The Project Manager sets the proposal to “Modifications in Process.”
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  2. The potential subgrantee logs into eGrants and accesses their proposal.
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  3. If the potential subgrantee agrees to suggested changes, they access the proposal pages and make the necessary modifications and submit the changes to TxDOT by choosing “Proposal Modifications Submitted,” and clicking the "Change Status" button under the “Change the Status” section of the Proposal Menu.
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  4. If the potential subgrantee does not agree to suggested changes, they can withdraw their proposal by choosing “Proposal Withdrawn,” and clicking the “Change Status” button under the “Change the Status” section of Proposal Menu.
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  5. The proposals that are ready are pushed forward to “Approved” status and then to generate grant agreements. The proposals that still need modifications are not pushed forward until necessary changes are made.
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Process Overview

An overview of the eGrants proposal process can be found in the eGrants Proposal Process Workflow.

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