Oswego To Get $1.3M In Funding As Revenues Decline Amid Pandemic

OSWEGO, IL — During its Tuesday meeting, the Oswego Village Board voted to participate in the state's CURE program and receive federal reimbursements of more than $1.36 million to pay for all coronavirus-related expenses incurred locally over the last few months.

The local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (CURE) program is a state program designed to provide support to local governments outside of Cook, Lake, Will, Kane and DuPage counties using federal funds allocated to the state through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act.

In a memo to the board, Carri Parker, the village's purchasing manager, said the COVID-19 pandemic has had global implications, including "right here in Oswego both across the community and within the village organization.

"The village continues to provide services to the people and businesses in our community, while experiencing a decline in revenues and watching our COVID-related expenses increase," she said.

The memo also said that staff has stretched village resources to support the needs of the community by adjusting to different work schedules, locations, and even different responsibilities to ensure that "we were able to serve our community and local businesses."

Multiple staff members pivoted fully to managing and responding to the impacts of COVID, including supporting local businesses, managing operational changes, technology implications, daily cleaning and disinfecting, procurement of personal protective equipment, and so much more. All of this is added to the ongoing responsibility of providing services to the community.

According to information provided by the village, expenses eligible for reimbursement include:

• Costs of providing COVID-19 testing
• Emergency medical response expenses
• Public health expenses including expenses for communication and enforcement of public health orders
• Purchasing media for public health messages related to mask-wearing and social distancing
• Expenses for establishing public health programs including those that reimburse businesses for public health measures including PPE
• Installation of plexiglass barriers and touchless hand sanitizer stations
• Payroll expenses for public safety, public health
• Health care, human services, and other employees involved in responding to COVID-19
• Expenses for actions taken to ensure compliance with COVID-19 public health measures

The Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance will provide a 75 percent federal cost-share of eligible expenditures. The amount of funding is based on the amount of funds remaining that were allocated to the program as a whole. Local CURE funding can be used as the 25 percent local match for FEMA funding. At this time, FEMA does not have a timeline of when expenses need to be submitted.

Most supply expenditures are reimbursable through FEMA. Staff time and contractual service reimbursements are limited to CURE. There is a possibility that more costs could be associated with COVID-19 at a later date should the program criteria change.

Around Nov. 1, the village will receive a spending status request from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The spending status request will be due to the DCEO by Dec. 1, and Dec. 30 is the final day that costs can be incurred.