HomeMy WebLinkAbout091420_ra01 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Philip Morley, County Administrator
Patty Charnas, Chief, COVID Pande is o e very Section
Mark McCauley, Central Services Direct .
DATE: September 14, 2020
SUBJECT: Update Regarding CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), and
the Allocation Process to Provide Community Assistance
STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Staff will provide the Board of County Commissioners an update
on CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), and the process to allocate a portion of those
funds to provide assistance to help address the community impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This September 14 update follows the Board's briefing and discussions on August 17, August 24
and September 8.
ANALYSIS: Washington State allocated a first round of CRF funds to all cities and counties,
including Jefferson County, earlier this year to help defray costs associated with the Covid-19
pandemic public health emergency. Since our last briefing, Washington State has announced it is
releasing a second round of CRF in the amount of$638,000 to Jefferson County, as well as a
second amount of$638,000 to Jefferson County Public Health specifically dedicated to public
health costs for responding to the pandemic. The second round announcement moved the
deadline for local governments to obligate and bill the state for CRF from October 31 to
November 30. Under federal guidelines, funds can be used to pay for eligible costs and relief
services up through December 30, 2020. In the State's second round of CRF, the City of Port
Townsend also received a separate allocation of approximately $144,000.
From the County's first round of CRF, staff previously estimated that after paying for County
costs to respond to this pandemic through this fall, and already committing approximately
$150,000 to help others in our community respond to the COVID-19 emergency, an additional
$327,000 of Jefferson County's first round of CRF funds was estimated to available to be
allocated for eligible purposes under federal and state requirements (for a total of approximately
$477,000 from the first round CRF allocation for community assistance). Staff are currently
recalculating these first round CRF figures based on two changes: the recent CRF allocation to
Public Health may supplant some or all of the first round County CRF dollars that were
dedicated to cover Public Health pandemic response costs. In contrast, FEMA issued new
guidelines this past week that substantially limits what COVID emergency response costs will be
reimbursable under the Stafford Act, and which repositions Stafford Act funding to be funding of
last resort. Staff is working to calculate how much of$247,000 of planned Stafford Act
reimbursement must now be funded using CRF funds, instead.
At the Board's suggestion, and after consultation with representatives of the City, Port and PUD,
six Community Groups working with the Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee were
asked to submit ideas for priority projects and uses for expending funds from the County's first
and second round or CRF for community assistance. The six Community Groups are: Culture
& Events, Economy & Jobs, Children& Families, Human Services, Food System Resiliency,
and Broadband. On September 8, staff briefed the Commissioners on the recommendations by
the six groups, as well as several other COVID response and relief costs. The City of Port
Townsend is using this same process to consider how they may spend a portion of the City's
second round of CRF.
At 5:00 pm Wednesday, September 16, 2020, the Commissioners and City Council will
participate with the Port Commission and PUD Commission in a meeting of the
Intergovernmental Collaborative Group to further consider the proposals for utilizing a portion of
CRF funding for community assistance related to the pandemic. This process also provides an
opportunity for the City and County to coordinate funding efforts to better complement each
other's to best benefit the community.
The County Commissioners have targeted making the County's initial allocation decisions at the
Commissioners' regular meeting on September 21, 2020.
FISCAL IMPACT: None. However, a supplemental budget appropriation will eventually need
to be submitted to the Board of County Commissioners for approval to reflect both the first and
second of CRF rounds that may flow through the County.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board hear the update from staff, prepare for the September
16 ICG meeting, and provide further guidance as appropriate.
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