N.J. Admin. Code § 7:36-24.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:36-24.5 - Disbursement of matching grant

(a) Green Acres shall disburse the matching grant in advance of the nonprofit's incurring allowable project costs, or as reimbursement of accrued allowable project costs.

(b) For each request for payment, the nonprofit shall submit:

1. A Development Payment Request form that Green Acres provides with the fully executed project agreement under N.J.A.C. 7:36-24.1(c), with the following items completed:

i. The project name, name of nonprofit, and municipality and county in which the project site is located;

ii. An itemized statement of the costs incurred or to be incurred; and

iii. A certification by the nonprofit's chief financial officer that the information entered on the payment request form is accurate and that the nonprofit is maintaining an accurate record of accounts for the project, including cancelled checks and vouchers which must be submitted to Green Acres upon request.

2. For requests for payment in advance of the nonprofit incurring allowable construction costs, the nonprofit also shall:

i. Certify that construction of the project has commenced;

ii. Erect a construction sign as required under N.J.A.C. 7:36-24.4(d); and

iii. Submit a copy of the construction contract that provides a breakdown of the costs for which advanced payment is requested.

(c) Upon receipt of a request for payment under (b) above and approval of all required documentation, Green Acres shall send to the nonprofit a payment invoice for 50 percent of the allowable project costs, up to the matching grant amount approved under N.J.A.C. 7:36-23.3(b), except as provided under (c)1 below. The nonprofit's chief financial officer or the nonprofit's authorized designee shall verify, sign, and return the invoice to Green Acres for processing, along with information related to the bank account required under (d) below.

1. For payments in advance of the nonprofit incurring costs, Green Acres shall disburse up to ninety percent of the matching grant.

2. Before final payment shall be disbursed, the nonprofit shall submit and Green Acres shall approve the items required for project closeout under N.J.A.C. 7:36-24.6(b).

(d) The nonprofit shall establish a separate, non-interest-bearing bank account for the purpose of receiving Green Acres disbursements for the project. If a nonprofit has undertaken more than one Green Acres funded project, it may establish a single bank account to receive all Green Acres disbursements for all of the projects. If the nonprofit will be receiving Green Acres disbursements only as a reimbursement, it may designate an existing account into which the disbursement will be received, provided proper accounting procedures are in place to allow for easy and accurate financial tracking of Green Acres disbursements. Any account into which Green Acres disbursements are deposited will be subject to audit by the State. Upon receipt of the signed invoice and bank account information, the State shall mail each matching grant disbursement to the nonprofit in the form of a check. The nonprofit shall not sign over the check to a contractor or any other person but shall deposit the check into the nonprofit's bank account.

(e) Immediately upon receipt of the matching grant disbursement under this section, the nonprofit shall have the conservation or historic preservation restriction provided by Green Acres at N.J.A.C. 7:36-24.1(c) recorded by the county clerk or registrar as a first encumbrance on the project site. The recorded restriction shall be returned to Green Acres.

(f) The nonprofit may unilaterally withdraw the project at any time before it receives Green Acres funding. The nonprofit shall not terminate the project agreement after it receives any Green Acres funding without the written consent of Green Acres.

(g) If the nonprofit terminates the project agreement under (f) above, the nonprofit is responsible for any costs of the development incurred as of the time of termination. The nonprofit shall also repay, with interest at the judgment interest rate established under the New Jersey Court Rules Governing Civil Practice at R. 4:42-11(a)(ii) in effect at the time of termination, any disbursements that Green Acres made to the nonprofit for the project.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:36-24.5