HELLO, WE ARE THE EAST TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
NEWS, EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
ETCOG is proud to host the Texas Department of Agriculture on March 12th to hold a TxCDBG Regional Outreach Meeting. Join us to hear a TxCDBG grant program overview of requirements, allocation formula, upcoming funding opportunities, and TDA's one-year action plan. Eligible applicants in our region are all non-entitlement communities, which include all of our cities with the exception of Tyler, Marshall, and Longview. When Thursday, March 12, 2026 10:00 AM Where ETCOG Headquarters 3800 Stone Road Kilgore, TX 75662 Please RSVP your attendance!
Nominations are Due by Tuesday, February 10, 2026
ETCOG is sharing Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) updates affecting its policies and manuals, and a webinar offering an overview of new forms in its grant management tool. Policy Issuance 25-01, and revision of the 2025 TxCDBG Implementation Manual Revisions for clarity in Chapter 5 Procurement Procedures and Chapter 8 Force Account Labor. New guidance in Chapter 1, Administration and Reporting, for state public hearing requirements. New guidance in Chapter 2, Financial Management, for changes to the timing of disbursement documentation requirements. New guidance in Chapter 4, Contract Special Conditions for federal requirements. Policy Issuance 25-01 is effective January 1, 2026. Policy Issuance 25-01 can be found on the TDA website. The same revisions have been incorporated into the 2025 Implementation Manual chapters posted to the TDA website, marked in blue text. Updates to TDA-GO & Webinar TDA has prepared several new forms that include grant management tools. TDA has scheduled a webinar to walk through these tools and will provide additional resources as needed: WEBINAR: CDBG Over Coffee: New TDA-GO Financial Management Tools webinar January 22, 2026 Fund Source Calculator This tool calculates the total maximum grant amount and minimum matching funds amount based on actual project costs. The form pulls data entered in TDA-GO as project cost obligations (from Materials and Services Reports) and expenditures (from Payment Requests), as well as the grant agreement funding amounts and match ratio commitment. Written guidance - How to use the Fund Source Calculator - can be found on the TDA website. Disbursement of Funds documentation A new form in TDA-GO collects bank records and cancelled checks to document disbursement of funds throughout the grant agreement period. These records are currently required for during the closeout monitoring process and can be a challenge for some communities to collect and organize. Disbursement records will be required promptly after each grant payment is issued. Written guidance - How to Enter Disbursement Detail - can be found on the TDA website. For existing grants ending on or after March 1, 2026, Grant Recipients should begin uploading documentation for previously approved Payment Requests. TDA will begin holding Payment Requests for grants that have not yet provided this documentation on March 1, 2026 .
