Cost Reporting

Cost Reporting Guidance (August 2026)

As part of MRP Permittee Cost Reporting for FY 25-26, Permittees are required to calculate and report costs for MRP compliance. MRP compliance costs that are offset via grants must also be included in Permittee cost reporting for FY 25-26. There are two offsets in FY25-26:  one for the Watching Our Watersheds (WOW) USEPA Grant, and another for the PCBs TMDL Special Studies and Implementation Project Grant.  Directions for including both are provided below. The attached updated Framework can be used for reference if you have already started updating your information this year, or you can use this updated version that has the grant funding included already directly if you have not started your cost reporting work yet.   If you have already started your cost reporting worksheet by updating the previous years or using the original FY25-26 worksheet, please follow the following instructions to add in the grant funds:

Watching Our Watersheds (WOW) USEPA Grant

In FY 25-26, Permittee costs associated with MRP provision C.8 (Water Quality Monitoring) were offset by the regional Watching Our Watersheds (WOW) USEPA grant administered by C/CAG on behalf of all MRP Permittees/Programs.

 The cost offset by the WOW grant in FY 25-26 for the San Mateo Countywide Program is $95,200. So the “General Countywide Program Costs” tab in the SMCWPPP Cost Reporting Framework Workbook needs to be updated accordingly, as follows (I’ve also updated the framework template in the attached workbook for reference):

Instructions on how to include grant funds for the WOW Project

To correctly account for this offset and source of funds, Permittees should take the following steps with your own version of the attached workbook (or just use the attached if you haven’t started your cost reporting work yet):

1. Increase the SMCWPPP C.8 budget for FY 25-26 by $95,200:
   1. In the Cost Reporting Framework Tool, select the General – Countywide Pgm Costs tab.
   2. Locate the Countywide Program budget for C.8 (cell C17)
   3. Add the WOW offset to the C.8 budget and enter the new budget number into that cell (i.e., add $95,200 to $824,353 and enter $919,553 as the new C.8 budget) .
   4. The Permittee’s share of the new C.8 budget will automatically increase, and costs related to C.8 in the Cost Summary Table will be adjusted.
2. Add the WOW grant as a source of funds:
   1. Select the 3. Source of Funds Summary tab.
   2. In the Source of Funds Table, add “Grant Funds” in the Category column of a blank row.
   3. In the column that says, “Indicate if there are legal restrictions on the use of the funds”, select “Yes”.
   4. In the column that says, “Indicate if funds are shared on a regional or countywide basis”, select “Yes”.
   5. In the Comments column, enter “Watching Our Watersheds Trash Receiving Water Monitoring Grant”

PCBs TMDL Special Studies and Implementation Project Grant

This grant funds certain studies and activities within San Mateo County. The cost offset for Provision C.12 by the PCBs TMDL Special Studies grant in FY 25-26 for the San Mateo Countywide Program is $315,450. So the “General Countywide Program Costs” tab in the SMCWPPP Cost Reporting Framework Workbook needs to be updated accordingly, as follows. (The framework template in the attached workbook has also been updated for reference or use if you have not started yet.)

Instructions on how to include grant funds for the PCBs Grant

To correctly account for this offset and source of funds, Permittees should take the following steps with your own version of the attached workbook (or just use the attached if you haven’t started your cost reporting work yet):

1. Increase the SMCWPPP C.12 budget for FY 25-26 by $315,450:
   1. In the Cost Reporting Framework Tool, select the General – Countywide Pgm Costs tab.
   2. Locate the Countywide Program budget for C.12 (cell C21)
   3. Add the PCBs grant offset to the C.12 budget and enter the new budget number into that cell (i.e., add $315,450 to $401,125 and/or enter $716,575 as the new C.12 budget) .
   4. The Permittee’s share of the new C.12 budget will automatically increase, and costs related to C.12 in the Cost Summary Table will be adjusted.
2. Add the PCBs grant as a source of funds:
   1. Select the 3. Source of Funds Summary tab.
   2. In the Source of Funds Table, add “Grant Funds” in the Category column of a blank row.
   3. In the column that says, “Indicate if there are legal restrictions on the use of the funds”, select “Yes”.
   4. In the column that says, “Indicate if funds are shared on a regional or countywide basis”, select “Yes”.
   5. In the Comments column, enter “PCBs TMDL Special Studies & Implementation

SMCWPPP FY25-26 Framework (Updated August 2026)

Bay Area Cost Reporting Guidance Manual