18 Miss. Code. R. 20-1-1-IV.4
The State of Mississippi will not be using a percentage of the grant to undertake leveraging activities.
Leveraging activities will be an integral component of the Mississippi DOE BILWeatherization Program. Local funds and in-kind contributions will be solicited from individuals and philanthropic organizations in efforts to supplement DOE funds. The benefits of engaging in leveraging activities are:
Local Weatherization subgrantees are required to engage in leveraging activities as it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend programs for re-authorization and appropriation before the Congress. Secondly, the demand for Weatherization assistance has continued to increase at a geometrical progression as the elderly population increases. Therefore, Subgrantees are encouraged to solicit additional weatherization resources such as cash donations and in-kind contributions. The in-kind contributions include, but are not limited to:
volunteers, vented space heaters, insulation materials, siding materials, bricks, plywood, storm doors and windows, paint, nails, ceiling tile, doors and thresholds, smart thermostats, water treated wood, carpet, glue and foam spray insulation, electric bulbs, cement, glass windows, wasp spray and discounts.
Weatherization subgrantees are required to submit leveraging reports, which include the name of the item, cash amount received, the estimate of fair market value for donated materials, name of labor contributors and the estimated number of households that benefited because of the leveraging activity.
The Mississippi DOE BIL Weatherization Assistance Program is aware that reporting may be difficult where multiple sources of funds because of leveraging used to weatherize a unit, or a complicated leveraging agreement reached with non-Federal partners. To assist Subgrantees in determining what a DOE weatherized unit is, DOE BIL WAP will utilized DOE definition as follows:
A DOE Weatherized unit is- A dwelling on which a DOE-approved energy audit or priority list has been applied and weatherization work has been completed. As funds allow, the measures installed on this unit and paid for with DOE funds have a Savings-to-Investment Ratio (SIR) of 1.0 or greater, but also may include any necessary energy-related health and safety measures.
MS DOE BIL WAP understands that the use of BIL funds on this unit may include, but are not limited to indirect expenditures (e.g., administrative, T&TA, amortized equipment) and direct costs such as energy auditing, measure installation, H&S, and inspections. A dwelling unit that meets both the definition of a DOE BIL weatherized unit and uses DOE BIL funds for direct costs, must be reported as a DOE completed unit.
18 Miss. Code. R. 20-1-1-IV.4