{"id":22579,"date":"2025-08-19T13:09:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/?p=22579"},"modified":"2025-08-19T13:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:10:19","slug":"grants-retention-periods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/2025\/08\/grants-retention-periods\/","title":{"rendered":"Choose Your Own Adventure: Grant Records Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

What if I asked you, “Where can you find the retention period for local government grant records?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You wouldn’t be wrong to go to Grant Development and Administrative Records in Schedule GR (GR1025-08). But wait! That\u2019s not the whole picture. At the top of Local Schedule GR, Part 2<\/a>, note (b)<\/strong> significantly expands the definition of grant records to include \u201cfinancial and programmatic records of grant-funded projects.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Decoding Note (b)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Financial and programmatic records can include accounting, banking, and purchasing records for purchases made with grant funds, payroll records for grant-funded staff, and administrative records for grant-funded projects. For example, if a grant funds a cleanup project, you might be looking at receipts for supplies and equipment, payroll records for project staff, internal reports and milestones, or correspondence about project operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long do you keep these financial and programmatic records? The short answer<\/strong>: it depends on the grant. The page-long retention period<\/a> in Schedule GR, Part 2 might look overwhelming at first, but let’s break it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question 1: Is this a subgrant of federal funds?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If not, proceed to the next question.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If so: Records of projects funded by federal subgrants must be retained by local government subgrantees for FE + 5 years<\/a>. Local governments should consult with subgrantors to identify potential additional requirements for a particular grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: <\/strong>This overrides the 3-year retention period for most local governments in GR1025-08(a) and (b).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question 2: How frequently is the grant renewed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

For all other grants, the retention period for financial and programmatic records is typically 3 years (ISDs are an exception; see note (b)(4)<\/a> for more details).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

But the question is… 3 years from when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n