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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020 08 20 UPDATED letter on CRF Allocation - pm_plcK10 ON c � \SIN August 20, 2020 Community Groups Working With the ICC Jefferson County, Washington Philip Morley 1820 Jefferson Street PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Re: Financial assistance through the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds Dear Valued Community Groups working with the ICC, I am writing you on behalf of the Jefferson County Commissioners and the Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee (ICC) to invite consensus ideas developed by each Community Group by close of business September 4, 2020 on how Jefferson County (and potentially the City of Port Townsend) might allocate a share of federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to assist the community to help pay for expenses necessary to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and to provide economic support to people impacted by the emergency. The County needs to prioritize how to use portions of the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds to address community impacts from the COVID-19 public health emergency. These funds must be spent by October 31*, 2020 and any use must fit the eligibility criteria listed below. The State released a first round of CRF to Jefferson County (and a smaller amount to the City of Port Townsend). After paying for County costs to respond to this pandemic through this fall and committing $150,000 already to help others in our community respond to the COVID-19 emergency, $327,000 of Jefferson County's first round of CRF funds is available to be allocated for eligible purposes under federal and state requirements. We invite the six Community Groups to submit ideas for expending these funds on eligible projects by September 4th. The six Community Groups are Culture & Events, Economy & Jobs, Children & Families, Human Services, Food System Resiliency, and Broadband. We also want to be ready to allocate a second round of CRF funds that the State may soon distribute to the County and the City. This second round of CRF must also be fully spent by the October 31 deadline. Washington State has not yet said how much each jurisdiction will get in the second round, but it could be several times the $327,000 we have currently for allocation to help our community respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 pmorley@co.jefferson.wa.us All local CRF funds (round 1 and round 2) must be obligated and billed by the County and City to Washington State for reimbursement, by October 31 (unless the State extends this current deadline). And in turn, the subrecipient organizations we contract with to provide community assistance also needs to fully obligate and bill the CRF funds we provide them by October 31. So, time is short for all this to happen. If we or our subrecipient organizations miss the October 31 deadline, those CRF dollars cannot be spent. Expenditures must meet federal and state eligibility criteria (attached). CRF funds may only be used to cover: • Expenses associated with the provision of economic support in connection with the emergency. • Medical and public health expenses. • Payroll expenses for public safety, public health, health care, human services, & similar employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the emergency • Expenses of actions to facilitate compliance with public health measures. • Other COVID-19-related expenses of government that satisfy the CRF's eligibility criteria. By way of example, other cities and counties have been making community allocations using CRF dollars for these kinds of uses that meet federal and state criteria: • Small grants to help businesses/nonprofits & workers impacted by COVID pandemic; • School District pandemic response costs and child meal programs; • Response costs for other local governments; • Homeless housing & support service costs in the pandemic; • Isolation & Quarantine costs; • Residential assistance (rental, mortgage, utilities) for people impacted by the pandemic; • Food assistance related to the pandemic; • Broadband access (for distance learning & work in the pandemic); • Childcare assistance needed as a result of the pandemic; • Testing/medical costs, prescription drug assistance While we need to spend the funds quickly on COVID-related assistance, we also should look for opportunities in doing so that invest in our long-term capacity to meet community needs. Jefferson County and the ICC invites written suggestions of eligible priority projects and uses for the $327,000 of the first round of CRF funds. We also seek suggestions of eligible priority projects and uses for a potential second round of CRF funding. The Community Groups are invited to submit projects or priority category ideas to the Board of County Commissioners via Leslie Locke, Executive Assistant, Jefferson County Administrator's Office LLocke@co.iefferson.wa.usieffbocc@co.iefferson.wa.us by close of business Friday, September 4, 2020. We look forward to hearing from you on what those priorities should be. Remember, all expenditures must meet federal and state CRF criteria, and the costs must be fully incurred by Page 2 of 3 both the subrecipient and the County (or City) by October 31, 2020 (unless extended by the State). Attached for your reference are program guidance published by the US Treasury and by the Washington Department of Commerce. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Patty Charnas, County COVID Finance Section Chief, pcharnas@co.iefferson.wa.us. Sincerely yours, Philip Morley Jefferson County Administrator Attachment: US Treasury Guidance on Coronavirus Relief Funds WA Dept. of Commerce Guidance on Coronavirus Relief Funds Page 3 of 3