Since March, communities across Illinois have been devastated by the impact of COVID-19. A May 2020 report by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability estimates that local government revenues are down by $1.3 billion over last year. The Pritzker administration has worked over the past several weeks to marshal hundreds of millions for communities and businesses hit hardest by the crisis. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget published a report on Illinois’ Federal Coronavirus Response Funds and Anticipated Uses.
On Friday, July 10, Illinois Extension Community and Economic Development program co-hosted a Local Government Education webinar on Coronavirus Relief Fund Assistance Program for Local Governments with the Illinois Association of County Board Members, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Illinois Governor’s Office. Presenters were Philip Keshen, chief financial officer at DCEO’s Office of Financial Management, and Tony Rolando who has been with the Illinois Department of Commerce for over 16 years as Senior Account Manager in the North Central Region.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted budgets for communities and businesses across our state—forcing many local governments to choose between making community investments and doing what needs to be done to sustain an emergency response,” says Michael Negron, acting director of DCEO. “We have establish a rigorous process to ensure this critical funding is distributed equitably and expeditiously, helping those communities hit hardest by the virus sustain their response.”
DCEO started accepting applications for eligible expense reimbursements on Monday, July 6. The closing date for applications is July 17. The Coronavirus Relief Fund is authorized in Section 5001 of the CARES Act.
“This is a partnership between state and federal government, with allocations made based on population as measure to ensure fair distribution of funds statewide,” says Kelly Murray, Illinois Association of County Government. Each municipality and county in Illinois is assigned a dollar amount of funding to be used for government expenses incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the public health emergency.
Examples of eligible reimbursements include costs for temporary public medical facilities; COVID-19 testing; emergency medical response; public health (including COVID-19-related communication); payroll for public safety, public health, health care, and human services; and actions taken to facilitate compliance with COVID-19 related public health measures. Costs must be incurred since March 1 and Dec. 30, 2020.
The US Treasury has released several documents, clarifying CRF use. “When making your list for eligible claims, we encourage you to think about how the costs were occurred and included in making your submission.” says Keshen. "This is not a grant, but a reimbursement program; working to find ways to reduce barriers for participation in the program.”
More than 85% of local CURE funding will be distributed to municipalities, county governments, and certified local public health departments. Remaining funds will be released by application to other units of local government. The application-based allotment will prioritize local governments serving disproportionately impacted areas, low-income zip codes that have had a significant number of cases of COVID-19 among residents.
“It will be DCEO’s and our partner’s goal to turn around requests within five to seven business days,” says Keshen. Claims should be organized by categories of expenses and present signed receipts in a digital format, using the following categories: payroll for public health and safety employees; budgeted personnel and services diverted to a substantially different use; improvement to telework capabilities of public employees; medical expenses; public health expenses; distance learning; and items not listed.
A recording of the July 10 webinar is available. Learn more about the program or review this presentation.
Each year, elected and appointed government officials and administrators from across the state improve their knowledge and skills through professional development opportunities offered by University of Illinois Extension. Participants benefit from the advanced instruction and broad expertise that instructors bring to all our programming. In this past year, over 3,000 local government officials and community leaders participated through webinars and program recordings. All are welcome to subscribe to receive updates for future webinars.
SOURCE: Kathleen Brown, Community and Economic Development Educator, Illinois Extension
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