Meeting of the Priority Setting & Resource Allocation Committee
Monday, July 10, 2023
By Zoom Videoconference
3:00 – 3:55
Members Present: Marya Gilborn (Co-chair), Jeff Natt (Co-chair), Fulvia Alvelo, Matt Baney, Kyron Banks, Billy Fields, Graham Harriman, Matthew Lesieur, Guadalupe Dominguez Plummer, John Schoepp, Claire Simon, Terry Troia
Members Absent: Joan Edwards, Steve Hemraj, Dorella Walters
Staff Present: David Klotz, Scott Spiegler, Johanna Acosta, PhD, Melanie Lawrence, Doienne Saab, Ilana Newman, Patrick Chan (NYC DOHMH); Arya Shahi, Rosemarie Santos, Barbara Silver (Public Health Solutions)
Agenda Item #1: Welcome/Introductions/Minutes
Ms. Gilborn and Mr. Natt opened the meeting, followed by a roll call and a moment of silence. The minutes of the June 12, 2023 meeting were approved with no changes.
Agenda Item #2: GY 2024 Application Spending Request
Mr. Klotz explained that the Council must approve a spending request for submission to HRSA with the GY 2024 non-competitive continuation application. EMAs are allowed to ask for up to 5% more than that previous year’s award. PSRA traditionally requests the increase in the Base award, as the MAI award is completely formula-driven. The request must be a justifiable with list, which can be a road map in planning for an unlikely increase in the FY 2024 grant award. Planning for the likely scenario of a decrease will take place in the fall-winter.
A 5% increase would mean an additional $4,268,232. After administration, quality management and a 5% increase to Tri-County programs (approved by PSRA last month), that would leave $3,618,919 for NYC Base programs. There is an additional $292,704 in uncommitted funding available due to a contract termination in Health Education and Risk Reduction. The best available proxy for which service categories can absorb additional funds can be found in the FY 2022 close-out report presented to the Council last month. One approach is to allocate an increase to the one service category (Food & Nutrition) that spent more than 105% of its original allocation, and divide the rest through an across-the-board weighted increase with the exception of categories that spent more than 5% below their original allocations (Non-Medical Case Management, Early Intervention, Oral Health, Emergency Financial Assistance).
A motion was made, seconded and approved 11Y-0N to accept the GY 2024 application spending request as presented.
Agenda Item #3: Debrief: Carryover Plan Vote
Ms. Gilborn explained that the co-chairs wanted to add a discussion of the carryover vote at last week’s Council meeting to this agenda in order to see if there was anything in the process that could be improved.
Mr. Klotz said that it could have been emphasized more to the PSRA members that the final amount of carryover changes every year as the Recipient completes its closeout process and that the Bylaws give the Council precedence over all sub-committees and can make adjustments and changes to items approved by a subsidiary body. Mr. Harriman noted that the changes in the amounts were explained at the meeting, and that an initial presentation of closeout data could have been more accurate, which would have helped dispel perceptions that there was a lack of transparency.
Mr. Lesieur proposed considering changing the reprogramming plan so that the Council understands earlier in the year when service categories are on track for major underspending. The Committee discussed ways to insure that financial data is more closely monitored by the Council, such as through resurrection of the defunct Finance Committee, having more thorough briefings for the finance officer, and assigning responsibility for financial oversight to the PSRA Committee. Discussion of the how to address the Council’s responsibility for financial review and the assessment of the administrative mechanism will be added to the agenda of the Rules & Membership Committee.
There was a consensus that underlying issues around trust and transparency were behind the votes at the Council meeting. Mr. Harriman noted that steps to address those issues are in progress and that he hopes for an improved relationship and partnership to advance quality care for PWH.
Agenda Item #4: Public Comment
Ms. Gilborn and the Committee members and staff thanked Mr. Natt for his exemplary service as PSRA co-chair. Mr. Natt thanked Ms. Gilborn, the staff and the committee members for their collaboration and hard work.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
