OML UPDATE AT-A-GLANCE
Here are the top five things you need to know about this past week:
• The League is excited to announce that we will be holding this years conference in-person once again at the Renaissance hotel in downtown Columbus. We have a great program this year and we are excited to offer our attendees an agenda packed with valuable information covering timely issues that Ohios local leaders need to navigate these unprecedented times. In addition to sessions dealing exclusively with the myriad of unique challenges resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, our agenda will offer many sessions addressing many other critical local concerns that local leaders are facing. Read more and find the registration link in the article below.
• August 31 is the local government reporting deadline for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The National League of Cites (NLC) has a variety of resources for municipalities has the deadline approaches, including an article entitled “Three Key Takeaways from Treasurys Latest Reporting Guidance on ARPA.” You can find that article in full HERE. Find more reporting resources in the article below.
• On Tuesday, August 31 at 2 p.m., the National League of Cities (NLC) is holding a webinar entitled “ARPA & Equity: Longterm Planning for Local Governments”. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides enough resources to allow many local governments to build toward recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19, as well as foster long-term shifts toward racial equity in their communities. This webinar will allow municipal leaders to hear from experts and get local government examples that highlight opportunities to ensure equitable planning in ARPA spending. Learn more and register HERE.
• On Thursday, September 9 at 11 a.m. the League along with the Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association (OMAA) will be hosting a webinar entitled “Broadband: Technology, Regulation, and Both State and Federal Funding.” To learn more and to register, click HERE.
• As we covered in our previous bulletin, the U.S. Senate has passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes $550 billion in new federal investments in Americas infrastructure, adding an estimated two million jobs per year to the national economy. The National League of Cities (NLC) held a call to help local leaders begin preparing their cities to utilize these new infrastructure resources and learn what remaining advocacy is left to see this legislation enacted. You can find a recording of the call and more resources HERE.
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR LEAGUE’S UPCOMING IN-PERSON ANNUAL CONFERENCE
We are excited to hold this years conference in-person once again at the Renaissance hotel in downtown Columbus. To ensure the safety of all of our attendees, we will be requiring all unvaccinated guests to wear a mask.
We have a great program this year and we are excited to offer our attendees an agenda packed with valuable information covering timely issues that Ohios local leaders need to navigate these unprecedented times.
In addition to sessions dealing exclusively with the myriad of unique challenges resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, our agenda will offer many sessions addressing many other critical local concerns that local leaders are facing.
Attendees will hear from experts who will address important pandemic-related issues such as changes to the municipal income tax, federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and teleworking.
The program will cover many other critical local concerns, such as affordable housing, cyber security, grants for brownfield demolition and police body cameras, racial equity, broadband and the 2020 Census.
Additionally, as members have found our past roundtable discussions an important opportunity to network with local officials from communities that share similar demographics, we will be offering city and village roundtables to ensure participants have the chance to build critical relationships, share information and exchange best practices.
More details including the tentative agenda and the link to register are HERE. Make sure you register soon. We look forward to having you join us!
AUGUST 31 REPORTING DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) FUNDS
In advance of the August 31 reporting deadline for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, we wanted to make sure that League members have all the most up-to-date resources for the submission of the Interim Report and Recovery Plan Performance Report, including:
• Reporting and Compliance Guidance: This explains all the required reports in detail and the best first stop for any reporting questions. Find it HERE.
• Reporting guidance technical assistance webinars: With individual webinars for different types of jurisdictions, these webinars provide a good overview of reporting. Find it HERE.
• Reporting User Guide: This contains detailed submissions instructions and includes answers to frequently asked reporting questions. Find it HERE.
• Reporting user guide video: This new video walks through the user guide, reporting portal, and provides additional details on how to submit required reports. Find it HERE.
• Recovery Plan template: This provides a sample template for the Recovery Plan Performance Report for states, territories, and large localities. Find it HERE.
• Evidence and Equity Webinars: The evidence and equity webinars provide technical assistance for recipients on how they can include evidence and equity in the spending and reporting. Find it HERE & HERE.
• FAQs: These are the best resource for any policy related questions related to reporting. find those HERE.
• Individual recipients may send any questions that are not answered in these materials to SLFRP@treasury.gov.
• Treasury released a pre-recorded video providing recipients a walkthrough of the treasury portal for the interim report and recovery plan. Please click HERE to view the video, which is approximately 30 minutes long.
• Timestamps
• 4:44 - Reporting basics
• 14:30 - Interim Report
• 27:04 - Recovery Plan
OHIO RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND EXPANSION GRANT PROGRAM APPLICATION PERIOD TO OPEN SEPTEMBER 6
On September 6, broadband providers will be able to apply for grants through the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program to help construct last-mile broadband across the state.
HB 2 of the 134th General Assembly created the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program, which will award grants to internet service providers to fund the construction of broadband projects in unserved and underserved areas of the state. The program is administered by BroadbandOhio, which a division of the Ohio Department of Development.
The grant funding will be provided to internet service providers to assist with the cost of expanding broadband to unserved and underserved areas of the state by covering the broadband funding gap,” which is the difference between the total amount of revenue necessary for last-
mile broadband and the total amount the provider determines is the maximum amount that is cost effective for the provider construct last-mile broadband.
Eligible projects provide service access of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload to residences in areas that do not have a provider that can supply that speed. Areas that have less than 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload are considered unserved, areas that have between 10 Mbps and 25 Mbps download and 1 Mbps and 3 Mbps upload are considered tier one areas.
The application submission period opens will September 6, 2021 and will close November 8 at 5 p.m. The application review period will last up to 30 days. To learn more, click HERE.
BUILDING LOCAL ECONOMICS BY GROWING NEXT GENERATION ENTREPRENEURS
Small businesses are the backbone of Ohio's economy: they make up 98% of all Ohio businesses, employ more than half of our state's private-sector workforce, and add vibrancy to local communities.
The Ohio Afterschool Network is working with cities, schools, community-based organizations, libraries, businesses, and chambers of commerce to help create the next generation of business owners by introducing students to entrepreneurship.
Municipal leaders can get involved by:
• Encouraging parks and recreation departments to hold entrepreneur education camps and programs
• Connecting with schools and youth serving organizations teaching young people about entrepreneurship and serving as guest speakers, pitch contest judges, providing students with local issues they can help solve using their entrepreneurial mindsets
Community- and youth-serving organizations are provided with free curricula from state and national partners, training, technical assistance, and guest instructors to help children, youth, and teens develop a business idea and pitch it. While they don't need to launch a business, students will build entrepreneurial mindsets including adaptability, persistence, and problem solving - essential for success in school, life and work, whether they go on to start a business or enhance their value as employees by bringing those mindsets to the workplace.
For more information contact Liz Nusken, Ohio Afterschool Network, liz@oanohio.org.
OHIO RESEARCH INITIATIVE FOR LOCALS (ORIL) ACCEPTING RESEARCH IDEAS
League members can submit their Research Ideas to Ohios Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL), which is accepting research ideas for their upcoming Fiscal Year 2023 program. All are invited to submit ideas. Ideas must be submitted by September 7 The ORIL Board has expanded the criteria for submitting ideas. In addition to Ohios local public agencies (e.g.: counties, townships, cities, villages, MPOs and RTPOs), ideas may now also be submitted by university researchers, students, consultants, associations, and ODOT staff. All ideas must be applicable to the local transportation system and must be research.
The ORIL Board will review all ideas submitted and select those that propose the greatest benefit for Ohio. Selected ideas will be developed into Requests for Proposals, which will be posted for response from the transportation research community in January 2022. Research projects may begin any time after July 2022.
Research ideas may be submitted online. To access the Idea Submission Form and get additional information, click HERE. Idea submissions must be received by September 7, 2021 in order to be considered.
If you have any questions, please contact the ORIL program at ORIL@dot.ohio.gov or via phone at 614-644-8135 or 614-466-3029.
