July 3, 2020
Background
On March 27th, 2020, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The CARES Act established the Coronavirus Relief Fund and appropriated $150 billion to the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Under the CARES Act, the funds are to be used to make payments for specified uses based on the requirements of the CARES Act requirements and United States Department of Treasury guidance. Generally, the CARES Act provides that payments may only be used to cover costs that: (1) are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19; (2) were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 for the government; and (3) were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 30, 2020.
Expenditures must be used for actions taken to respond to the public health emergency. Funds may not be used to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover expenditures that would not otherwise qualify under the CARES Act. Expenditures using CARES Act fund payments must be reasonably necessary. For further information, please refer to the guidance issued by Treasury on April 22, 2020, and May 4, 2020.
On April 28, 2020, Marion County received information and guidance from the office of the Missouri State Treasurer regarding the distribution of CARES Act funds from the State of Missouri to Marion County. After approving and returning a certification for payment to the State of Missouri, on May 5, Marion County received $3,347,138.
Process
Over the course of the past few weeks, Marion County has reviewed the requirements of the CARES Act and the guidance issued by the Department of Treasury and has been working to identify community priorities and develop an application process to allow applicants to request CARES Act funds and make award decisions for the use of funds.
The County is making an application available to request CARES Act funds. Initially, for the first round of funding, local governments, public entities (i.e. water districts, library districts, schools, etc.), businesses and non-profits will be eligible to submit an application for reimbursement of incurred expenses directly related to Covid19. Applications for the first round of funding must be based on requests for reimbursement of eligible expenses or costs already incurred during the period March 1 through the time of submission and must satisfy the requirements of the CARES Act and Treasury guidance. Applicants will be required to submit sufficient supporting documentation such as invoices, receipts, and proof of payment.
The County is allocating $2,175,639 of the CARES Act funds for the first round of award decisions.
Application
Submittal for applications for the first round of funding will be received July 1st and beyond. Review of those applications will be done on a rolling basis. The first round of funding will continue until funds are exhausted or the Marion County Commission declares Round 1 closed.
Completed applications are to be returned or mailed to the Marion County Coordinator’s Office, 100 S. Main St., Ste. 4, Palmyra, Missouri 63461. Applications will then be reviewed and evaluated for completeness (including supporting documentation), compliance with the CARES Act requirements and Treasury guidance, and they meet the County’s criteria and guidelines set forth by the Marion County Commission.
The application will be available at the Marion County Clerk’s office, County website (marioncountymo.com), County social media sites, and the Hannibal Area Chamber of Commerce. Questions regarding the application process may be directed to the Hannibal Area Chamber of Commerce (573) 221-1101 or Brittany Weldy at Missouri SBDC (573)221-1033.
Depending upon the number of applications received and amount of funds awarded in the first round of funding, the County anticipates potential additional rounds of funding.
