(a) Tribes will be subject to fiscal penalties and requirements as follows:
(1) If we determine that a Tribe misused its Tribal Family Assistance Grant funds, including providing assistance beyond the Tribe's negotiated time limit under § 286.115, we will reduce the TFAG for the following fiscal year by the amount so used;
(2) If we determine that a Tribe intentionally misused its TFAG for an unallowable purpose, the TFAG for the following fiscal year will be reduced by an additional five percent;
(3) If we determine that a Tribe failed to meet the minimum work participation rate(s) established for the Tribe, the TFAG for the following fiscal year will be reduced. The amount of the reduction will depend on whether the Tribe was under a penalty for this reason in the preceding year. If not, the penalty reduction will be a maximum of five percent. If a penalty was imposed on the Tribe in the preceding year, the penalty reduction will be increased by an additional 2 percent, up to a maximum of 21 percent. In determining the penalty amount, we will take into consideration the severity of the failure and whether the reasons for the failure were increases in the unemployment rate in the TFAG service area and changes in TFAG caseload size during the fiscal year in question; and
(4) If a Tribe fails to repay a Federal loan provided under section 406 of the Act, we will reduce the TFAG for the following fiscal year by an amount equal to the outstanding loan amount plus interest.
(b) In calculating the amount of the penalty, we will add together all applicable penalty percentages, and the total is applied to the amount of the TFAG that would have been payable if no penalties were assessed against the Tribe. As a final step, we will subtract other (non-percentage) penalty amounts.
(c) When imposing the penalties in paragraph (a) of this section, we will not reduce an affected Tribe's grant by more than 25 percent. If the 25 percent limit prevents the recovery of the full penalty imposed on a Tribe during a fiscal year, we will apply the remaining amount of the penalty to the TFAG payable for the immediately succeeding fiscal year.
(1) If we reduce the TFAG payable to a Tribe for a fiscal year because of penalties that have been imposed, the Tribe must expend additional Tribal funds to replace any such reduction. The Tribe must document compliance with this provision on its TANF expenditure report.
(2) We will impose a penalty of not more than 2 percent of the amount of the TFAG on a Tribe that fails to expend additional Tribal funds to replace amounts deducted from the TFAG due to penalties. We will apply this penalty to the TFAG payable for the next succeeding fiscal year, and this penalty cannot be excused (see § 286.235).
(d) If a Tribe retrocedes the program, the Tribe will be liable for any penalties incurred for the period the program was in operation.