MMA hosts webinar on CARES extension and ARPA process

Heath Fahle, special director for federal funds at the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, covered the latest developments in the Coronavirus Relief Fund Municipal Program (under the CARES Act) and the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (under the American Rescue Plan) during an hour-long MMA-hosted webinar today.

Last week, Fahle’s office extended the application for reimbursement deadline for the Coronavirus Relief Fund Municipal Program from June 30, 2021, to Oct. 29, 2021.

The Commonwealth created the Coronavirus Relief Fund Municipal Program in May 2020 to make up to $502 million in federal resources available to municipalities to respond to the public health emergency caused by COVID-19.

The state is required to return any unused Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to the federal government by Dec. 31, 2021. The deadline extension gives municipalities more time to apply for remaining eligible expenses, while leaving the state sufficient time to reallocate any remaining funds in order to keep the money in the Commonwealth.

Fahle addressed potential compliance risks involved with the deadline extension, which will create an overlap between federal funding from the 2020 CARES Act and new funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

On May 25, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released allocation amounts and launched the community application process for non-entitlement communities for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

The Treasury has started to disburse ARPA funds to states to pass through to non-entitlement communities. The Treasury requires that states collect certain information from each non-entitlement community in order to release the funds.

State administration officials discussed what municipal leaders need to know, timelines, and deadlines.

Also participating in the webinar was Sean Cronin, senior deputy commissioner at the Division of Local Services.

Resources
CARES Act for Municipal Government information portal (mass.gov)
CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund – Municipal Program (CvRF-MP) Comprehensive Program Guidance
A&F Federal Funds Office, April 28, 2021
American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) information portal (mass.gov)
Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Payment Request Form for Non-entitlement Units of Local Government
Applying for Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CLFRF) Funding – Federal Funds Office Memo
FAQs: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds – U.S. Department of the Treasury, June 10

• COVID-19 Municipal Response Update – Executive Office of Administration and Finance presentation (1.5M PDF)
• Q&A Response Sheet – Executive Office of Administration and Finance presentation (450K PDF)