OML UPDATE AT-A-GLANCE
Here are the top five things you need to know from this past week:
· The League will be holding its first-ever virtual Annual Conference from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 13. Attendees will have the opportunity to access essential and up-to-date information that will greatly benefit their municipality during this unique and challenging time. The conference will largely feature sessions focused on issues related to COVID-19 and impacts cities and villages are experiencing. Click HERE to register and find out more in the article below.
· The Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) has released updated guidance on allowable uses for CARES Act clarifying that the funds can be used for payroll and benefits for public health and safety personnel and other employees substantially dedicated to mitigations efforts against COVID-19. You can find the complete updated guidance HERE and a two-page summation HERE. Additionally, the Auditor of State’s office released a memo regarding the use of CARES Act funds to support small businesses and provide housing assistance. You can find the memo in full HERE. This is an important resource for municipalities on how to support small businesses and struggling economic development in their communities. Read more about allowable uses in the article below.
· A spreadsheet of estimated relief fund allocations to local governments in Ohio has been released by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM). The spreadsheet lists each of the three allocations of federal CARES Act funds through HB 481, the Controlling Board and HB 614 and estimates the amount received by each local jurisdiction. You can view the spreadsheet in full HERE.
· This week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened applications for a total of $660 million in hazard mitigation grants through two programs: the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant (BRIC). These grants provide funds to states and local communities for projects that will reduce future disaster losses and strengthen a community’s ability to build a culture of preparedness. Read more in the article below.
· Despite the ongoing economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, state revenues slightly exceeded estimates in the month of September by $8.2 million, or 0.5%. State tax revenues have remained ahead of projections for the first quarter of FY2021 so far by $262.35 million, or 4.1%.
HOW MUNICIPALITIES CAN AND CANNOT SPEND CARES ACT AID
The Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) recently released updated guidance clarifying that local governments can use federal CARES Act funds for full payroll and benefits for public health and safety personnel. This update is of particular importance to our members as often the largest part of local budgets is dedicated to public safety efforts. Read more on this update to the guidance below:
Public Safety and Health Personnel:
The updated guidance clarifies that payroll and benefits for substantially dedicated employees may be covered using these funds. This includes personnel for public safety, such as police and fire, and employees working in public health, health care, human services and similar work. Additionally:
· CARES Act fund can be used to provide paid sick and family leave to infected or directly-impacted public employees who are unable to work, even if the cost of paid leave was previously approved in the municipality’s budget.
· Public health and public safety personnel are presumed to be “substantially dedicated” to the pandemic response for administrative convenience, unless the chief executive of the municipality determines otherwise.
· Personnel who were diverted to a substantially different use due in the pandemic response to COVID-19 are an allowable expense as well. This allows municipalities to repurpose personnel who have been furloughed or laid off.
Other Allowable Uses:
OBM’s guidance reiterates that these funds can only be encumbered for non-budgeted COVID-19-related expenses. However, there are a number of approved uses for these funds that local governments may not have considered.
There are initially obvious COVID-19-related expenses that are directly beneficial to municipalities. This includes:
· Acquiring and managing the use and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
· Disinfecting public areas and nursing homes, government facilities or parks.
· Caring for homeless populations in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.
There are also a variety of allowable uses for CARES Act funds that can benefit small businesses and members of the community, such as:
· Subgranting part of their allotment to another government or nonprofit in their local community.
· Using the funds for economic support such as small business assistance, increased workers compensation, unemployment insurance costs, and financial assistance to those who lost income due to the pandemic.
· Using the funds to cover the payment of overdue rent or mortgage to avoid eviction or foreclosure, unforeseen costs for funerals and other emergency needs individuals in their communities may have.
Municipalities can use CARES Act funds offset the increased cost of making public places COVID-19 compliant as well as mitigating the cost of remote working. This includes:
· Placing Plexiglass or barriers in public buildings.
· Adding ventilation or air circulation measures recommended by health officials.
· Placing signs to enforce public health measures.
· Buying additional washers and dryers for EMS and fire services.
· Installing touchless features in public facilities such as automatic doors or faucets, hand washing and sanitizing stations.
· Administrating senior or community center precautions.
· Organizing food delivery to vulnerable populations.
· Mitigating the increased costs of remote work for municipal employees through cybersecurity measures.
· Offering remote or online services that were not previously planned to be offered.
Prohibited Use of Funds:
OBM cautions municipalities against relying on vendors that say their product is eligible under the CARES Act. These funds cannot be used for items like repairing public property such as sidewalks or water lines, purchasing land or real property, or replacing current equipment and making major facility updates unless they have a direct tie to need due to COVID-19. Other prohibited uses are:
· Revenue replacement/forgone revenue including unpaid property taxes and utility fees.
· Expenses covered by business interruption insurance or reimbursed through other federal aid received in response to COVID-19.
· Expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any other federal program.
· Any costs, including indirect, administrative, and payroll, that were already in the most recently approved budget as of March 27th.
· Personnel expenses for employees whose work duties are not substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to COVID-19.
· Personnel costs of private employees paid directly (grants or loans to private employers may be allowed to cover this).
· Workforce bonuses. This prohibition does not include hazard pay or overtime.
· Severance Pay.
· Medicaid Match.
· Property tax assistance. Some exceptions may be made if assistance is provided to individuals who have been economically impacted by COVID-19 to prevent foreclosures.
· Prepayments on contracts related to COVID-19, unless this is part of the normal policies and procedures.
· Damages covered by insurances.
· Reimbursement to donors for donated items or services.
· Legal settlements.
Documentation and Reporting:
Municipalities should maintain detailed documentation of “substantially dedicated” personnel and the decisions to use CARES Act funds for employee payroll, as the U.S. Treasury has not defined “substantially dedicated”. There are extensive requirements for reporting and justifying any expenses where CARES Act dollars are used, and our local leaders should refer to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) resources to ensure the accounting processes is being done correctly.
Other Important Resources:
· You can find more complete information on how municipalities can spend federal aid on OBM’s website by clicking HERE.
· OBM also recently held a webinar for local governments detailing allowable uses and reporting requirements. You can access the slides from that presentation HERE.
· The Auditor of State’s office also recently held a webinar for local governments regarding accounting and auditing for CARES Act funds. You can access the slides from that presentation HERE.
As local governments have begun receiving their distributions of the remaining $650 million in CARES Act funds after Governor DeWine signed HB 614 last week. You can find more information on HB 614 and its provisions in our extensive coverage in previous legislative bulletins.
The League will continue to connect members with the resources they need to ensure cities and villages are aware of their options so they can use the funds available to them to help their local communities and work towards a strong, fast economic recovery.
LEAGUE’S FIRST-EVER VIRTUAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE WILL FOCUS ON COVID-19 IMPACTS AND RESPONSES FOR MUNICIPALITIES
The League’s 2020 first-ever virtual Annual Conference is fast approaching. We hope can join us from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 13 for valuable and timely information local leaders need to navigate these unprecedented times.
Our Annual Conference will offer many sessions that will deal exclusively with the myriad of unique challenges Ohio local leaders are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have crafted our agenda to ensure participants can hear from experts who will address a variety of other important pandemic-related issues such as grant opportunities and budgeting shortfalls resulting from the pandemic, COVID-19 employment law uses, evictions and homelessness, and changes to municipal income tax withholding during the pandemic.
We know there are many other important local concerns, such as cyber security and nuisance abatement, that local leaders are dealing with in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic and that we have included in the content presented at this year’s conference. Our Annual Conference will offer webinars on topics such as crisis management and social media, public records and a unique perspective on potential impacts of the November General Election.
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 virtual city and village roundtables to ensure participants have the chance to build critical relationships, share information and exchange best practices, all from the comfort of the location of their choosing.
Our Annual Conference is a great value for local leaders at a reduced cost of $150 for League members and $225 for non-members. Attendees will have the opportunity to access essential and up-to-date that will greatly benefit their municipality during this unique and challenging time in our communities’, our state’s and our nation’s history.
You can find the conference agenda HERE and register HERE. We look forward to having you join us!
FEMA OPENS APPLICATIONS FOR $660 MILLION IN FLOODING MITIGATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened applications this week for two hazard mitigation grant programs totaling $660 million. The two grant programs, the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant, will provide funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for eligible mitigation activities. These programs allow for funding to be used on projects that will reduce future disaster losses and strengthen the ability to build a culture of preparedness.
This will be the first time FEMA has offered the BRIC grant, which was made possible by the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, allowing for a stable funding source to fund mitigation projects annually.
The new BRIC grant is for pre-disaster mitigation activities and replaces FEMA’s existing Pre-Disaster Mitigation program. BRIC will offer $500 million in grants to help support states, tribes, territories and communities throughout the nation as they design and begin new infrastructure projects that will reduce future disaster recovery costs and help save lives. The program will also provide incentives to local governments to adopt and enforce modern building codes.
The Flood Mitigation Assistance program will offer $160 million in grants for flood mitigation, with $70 million of that amount set aside for community flood mitigation projects. These grants are used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings that are insured by the National Flood Insurance Program. Projects are selected based on the cost-effectiveness and eligibility of the proposal. FEMA has provided more than $1.3 billion on more than 2,900 flood mitigation projects since these grants began in 1996.
Both grant applications will be open from September 30. 2020 through January 21, 2021. Eligible applicants must apply for funding using the new FEMA Grants Outcome (FEMA GO), which you can access HERE. Applications received by FEMA after this deadline will not be considered for funding.
NEW OHIO BUREAU OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION (BCI) RULES INCREASE FEE FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) filed two new rules with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) dealing with background checks and an adjustment to the fee currently charged for those services.
BCI currently administers eight different kinds of background checks in Ohio. The amended rules raise the initial state background check fee from $22 to $35, and increase the fee to enroll and renew an individual in the retained applicant fingerprint database, also known as RAPBACK, from $5 to $7. No other fees are affected. The Ohio Attorney General’s office release the following FAQ regarding these adjustments:
Why are these fees being increased?
Ohio’s RAPBACK fee has not been adjusted since its inception in 2008. This is despite the fact that the number of new and existing enrollees has steadily increased over the last decade. Indeed, between 2015 and 2019, the number of new enrollees in RAPBACK nearly doubled from roughly 64,000 per year to 119,000 per year. The initial background check fee has also not been updated in nearly 13 years. Those numbers have also grown considerably since 2008, with Ohio processing approximately 880,000 initial background checks in 2019 alone.
How did BCI determine the new amounts?
Both increases are calculated to generate the necessary revenue BCI needs to be able to keep up with the growing demands and technology requirements for these services. As an example, the maintenance cost of the new system that stores and runs background checks exceeds two million dollars annually. In addition to paying for these specific services, BCI also uses revenue generated by these fees to pay for administrative, laboratory, and investigate support to local law enforcement – services BCI typically provides free of charge.
Why are they being increased now?
While BCI began studying adjustments to the fee before COVID, we are anticipating an extremely challenging budget process next year. In order to maintain our current operations and be able to continue to provide additional services – like independent investigations for officer involved critical incidents – BCI believes modernizing the current fee for these services is a more stable option in the current budget climate.
Members who have questions regarding these new rules can contact the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES (NLC) ANNOUNCES VIRUTAL ANNUAL CITY SUMMIT CONFERENCE
The National League of Cities' (NLC) annual City Summit conference, which will run from November 18 -20, is an event for local officials elected and staff to learn about the issues affecting local governments and expand their professional network.
This year, City Summit is going virtual, which means local leaders will get access to the same incredible trainings and workshops all from the comfort of their (home) office. Attendees will be joined by hundreds of other participants from across the country to gain best practices, tools and resources to handle whatever their community needs. The virtual conference will include informative panel discussions, keynotes and fireside chats, as well as engaging workshops and
opportunities to network with other local leaders.
To find out more and to register, click HERE.
OHIO EPA TO HOST NEXT WEBINAR IN SERIES ON LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance (DEFA) is hosting its fifth installment in a series of webinars focused on environmental issues that have an impact at the local level. The webinar will be held on Thursday, October 28 and will discuss “Open Dumping of Solid Waste and Scrap Tires.” Additionally, this webinar will include opportunities to receive Continuing Education Unit’s (CEU’s). To find out more information and to register, click HERE.
UPDATE ON OHIO CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE
· As of Thursday afternoon, Ohio is reporting 164,262 cases of coronavirus, 4,983 deaths, 16,200 hospitalizations and 3,395 ICU admissions.
o Upgraded to Level 3 (Red): Fayette, Lawrence, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Portage, Ross, and Trumbull
o Remaining at Level 3 (Red): Ashland, Butler, Hamilton, Mercer, Montgomery, Muskingum, Pike, Putnam, Richland, and Scioto
o Downgraded to Level 2 (Orange): Clermont
· Although COVID-19 hospital admissions in Ohio had been declining since peaking in mid-July, hospitalizations are now trending upwards with an increasing number of hospitalizations in rural Ohio. The average age of hospitalized patients has also gone up in recent weeks. Ohioans 60 and older now account for approximately 70% of COVID hospital admissions as compared to 50% of hospitalizations in July.
· Regionally, the western part of the state has been seeing an increase in hospital admissions and relatively fewer hospital admissions have been occurring in northeast and central Ohio. All regions of the state currently have adequate hospital capacity.
Business and Employment Update:
· Ohioans filed 18,592 initial jobless claims last week, according to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported to the U.S. Dept. of Labor today. This was 255,623 fewer than – or less than 7% of – the peak earlier this year. Ohioans filed 299,030 continued jobless claims last week, which was 477,272 fewer than – or less than half (about 39%) of – the peak earlier this year.
· Over the last 29 weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $6.9 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 817,000 Ohioans. Of the more than 1 million applications the agency has received, 95% have been processed, with 5% pending. In addition, ODJFS has issued more than $6.4 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to more than 595,000 PUA claimants.
· Beginning tomorrow, the Ohio Department Administrative Services (DAS) will launch the Ohio Women’s Enterprise Certification (WBE). This first-of-its-kind certification will allow women-owned businesses to seek certification from the Equal Employment Opportunity office at DAS.
Nursing Facilities Update:
· Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes has signed the order that allows nursing facilities to permit indoor visitation beginning Monday, October 12th. In order to permit indoor visitation, facilities are required to meet certain health and safety requirements. The visits will be limited to two visitors and will be a maximum of 30 minutes. Facilities are required to report visitation information, including visitation status, hours, maximum visitation time, and number of visitors via an online dashboard at coronavirus.ohio.gov. Facilities must register with the state by October 19th.
· This order also details compassionate care visits, which are separate and distinct from normal visitation. Other situations can include when a resident is grieving someone who recently passed away, a resident that may need encouragement to eat or drink that was previously provided by a family member or caregiver and is experiencing weight loss or dehydration, or when a resident is experiencing emotional distress. The order is available on coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Other Updates:
· Governor DeWine has authorized a study focused on school students who are quarantined due to meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's definition of close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
· The DeWine Administration is working closely with the Ohio General Assembly on a plan to distribute CARES Act funding to help citizens who are struggling to pay their rent, mortgage, or water and sewage utility bills. The plan will also focus on providing aid to small businesses and non-profits. More information on the economic recovery relief package is expected to be released soon.
· Phoenix Quality Manufacturing has produced N95 masks, creating 40 jobs in Jackson County. The facility will convert 23,000 square feet of the former Elemetal (Ohio Precious Metals) facility into an N95 mask manufacturing operation. The project has received a $250,000 JobsOhio revitalization grant and a $500,000 PPE grant from the Ohio Development Services Agency. They also received support from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, Appalachian Growth Capital, and various investors. Phoenix Quality Manufacturing plans to start producing masks in November for local, state, and international customers.
