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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ALLOCATION OF COOK COUNTY CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDS TO SUBURBAN MUNICIPALITIES AND OTHER UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States issued a Proclamation on Declaring a National Public Health Emergency as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak; and
WHEREAS, on March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”); and
WHEREAS, the CARES Act established the Coronavirus Relief Fund (“CRF”), which provides aid to certain eligible local governments to address necessary expenditures due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; and
WHEREAS, Cook County qualified as an eligible local government and received CRF funding from the U.S Department of Treasury; and
WHEREAS, federal guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury indicates that a unit of local government may transfer a portion of its CRF funding to a smaller unit of local government provided that such transfer qualifies as a “necessary expenditure” to the Public Health Emergency and meets the criteria of Section 601 (d) of the Social Security Act as added by Section 5001 of the CARES Act; and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 10 of the 1970 Illinois Constitution and the Illinois Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (5 ILCS 220/1 et seq.) and other applicable law permit and encourage units of local government to cooperate with and support each other in the exercise of their authority and the performance of their responsibilities; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Intergovernmental Cooperation Act authorizes units of local government to combine, transfer or jointly exercise any power, privilege, function, or authority which either of them may exercise, and to enter into agreements for the performance of governmental services, activities, or undertakings, and
WHEREAS, Cook County acknowledges that there are local municipalities within Cook County that were not eligible to receive a portion of CRF and Cook County, through the spirit of intergovernmental cooperation, desires to provide a portion of its CRF funding to aid such local suburban municipalities and other units of local government in addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; and
WHEREAS, Section 601(d) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5001 of the CARES Act requires that units of local government use the funds received to cover only those costs that (1) are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the COVID-19; (2) were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020, (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the state or local government; and (3) were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020; under current US Department of Treasury guidance, the CRF funds cannot be used for revenue losses; and
WHEREAS, in order to assist suburban municipalities and other units of local government in Cook County to pay necessary and eligible expenditures it has or will incur due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Cook County, through the Office of the Chief Financial Officer has created the Cook County COVID-19 Funding Response Plan to account for the County’s utilization of CRF funds and has allocated a portion of the County’s CRF to suburban municipalities and other units of local government; and
WHEREAS, historic disinvestment in certain communities within the region has resulted in an unequal capacity for all suburban municipalities to respond to the challenges that Covid-19 presents; and
WHEREAS, by working with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and committing to an equitable distribution strategy, the County developed its suburban municipality allocation with an equity lens to help prevent a widening disparity gap, as experienced during the last economic recession; and
WHEREAS, Cook County has assigned $51,000,000 of the County’s CRF distribution to provide allocations to 134 municipalities for eligible and approved CRF expenses. This allocation is based upon an understanding of initial direct and operational COVID-19 response needs; and allocations for each municipality were determined with consideration given to the following factors: immediate needs of the municipality to respond to the Pandemic, municipal population, municipal median income, and municipal public health statistics. Specifically, Cook County is allocating to each suburban municipality $5.90 per person plus an additional allocation based on a weighted calculation of four Suburban Municipality demographic and public health metrics: 1) percent population in disinvested areas; 2) median income; 3) COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents; and 4) tax base per capita; and
WHEREAS, suburban municipalities seeking to utilize their Cook County allocation which was determined under the Cook County COVID-19 Funding Response Plan will be required to complete the Cook County Suburban Municipality Application for CRF (the “application”) and meet the eligibility criteria set forth in the US Department of Treasury guidelines on CRF; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the funding allocated in the Cook County COVID-19 Funding Response Plan, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer has set aside additional CRF funds that may be provided to other units of local government within Cook County, i.e., the Forest Preserve District of Cook County; and
WHEREAS, in order to effectuate the transfer of Cook County CRF to suburban municipalities and other units of local government, Cook County will utilize Intergovernmental Agreements and Subrecipient Agreements to document the utilization of such funds for eligible expenses.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby supports the Cook County COVID-19 Funding Response Plan and allocation of $51 million in CRF funds to suburban municipalities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Chief Financial Officer to modify the funding allocations provided in Attachment A to this Resolution based upon municipal need and utilization; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby supports making additional CRF allocations to other units of local government within Cook County, such as the Forest Preserve District of Cook County through Intergovernmental Agreements; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that due to the fact that CRF is limited to eligible expenses and use of such funds by December 30, 2020, the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognizes that time is of the essence and authorizes the Chief Financial Officer and Cook County Board President to enter into Intergovernmental or Subrecipient Agreements with suburban municipalities and other units of local government for a portion of Cook County’s CRF allocation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chief Financial Officer shall issue quarterly reports to the Cook County Board of Commissioners regarding the execution of any Intergovernmental or Subrecipient Agreements entered into in accordance with this Resolution and CRF dollars awarded to suburban municipalities and other units of local government.
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