Legislative Matter

Miami-Dade Legislative Item
File Number: 210138

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Clerk's Official Copy

File Number: 210138

File Type: Resolution

Status: Adopted

Version: 0

Reference: R-86-21

Control: Board of County Commissioners

File Name: EXPEND CARES ACT FUND; TIME TO MUNICIPALITIES

Introduced: 1/26/2021

Requester: NONE

Cost:

Final Action: 2/2/2021

Agenda Date: 2/2/2021

Agenda Item Number: 11A10

Notes:

Title:

RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. R-1231-20 TO PROVIDE THAT ANY MUNICIPALITIES THAT HAVE RECEIVED FUNDS FROM THE COUNTY THROUGH THE 2020 CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (CARES ACT) CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) PANDEMIC RESPONSE SHALL HAVE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 TO EXPEND SUCH FUNDS

Indexes:

CORONAVIRUS

Sponsors:	Keon Hardemon, Prime Sponsor
	Jose "Pepe" Diaz, Co-Sponsor
	Sen. Rene Garcia, Co-Sponsor
	Oliver G. Gilbert, III, Co-Sponsor
	Danielle Cohen Higgins, Co-Sponsor
	Sally A. Heyman, Co-Sponsor
	Eileen Higgins, Co-Sponsor
	Joe A. Martinez, Co-Sponsor
	Kionne L. McGhee, Co-Sponsor
	Jean Monestime, Co-Sponsor
	Raquel A. Regalado, Co-Sponsor
	Rebeca Sosa, Co-Sponsor

Sunset Provision: No

Effective Date:

Expiration Date:

Registered Lobbyist:

None Listed

Legislative History
Acting Body	Date	Agenda Item	Action	Sent To	Due Date	Returned	Pass/Fail

Board of County Commissioners	2/2/2021	11A10	Adopted				P
REPORT:	In response to Commissioner Regalado’s inquiry regarding the drawdown of funds that occurred, Mr. Edward Marquez, Chief Financial Officer, stated the municipalities were documenting more of their expenses; and the County Administration had a list of undocumented expenses, which would be shared with the Board. He noted the proposed resolution did not affect the County Administration’s projections for spending money on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related expenses past January 1, 2022, for ongoing County programs. Discussion ensued between Commissioner Hardemon and Mr. Marquez regarding the $25 million allocation for municipal programmatic proposals subject to advanced approval by the Board and the approximately $9.8 million in unexpended funds from the $25 million. County Mayor Levine Cava stated the Board approved the allocation. She noted that, if the funds remained unspent, it was time to use those funds. She further noted that, if a municipality was unable to spend the funds for a particular program, it would be up to the Board to decide how to reallocate the funds. Commissioner Hardemon asked Mr. Marquez to provide a list outlining the amount of funds allocated to each city, including the amount each city had spent from those funds allocated. Commissioner McGhee questioned what prevented the municipalities and the Unincorporated Municipal Service Area (UMSA) from sharing in the remaining available funds. Mr. Marquez noted it was possible the cities had already spent part of the leftover funds, but no paperwork had been submitted on how the funds were spent. He further noted the cities might also have had other eligible projects, which were not yet presented to the County Administration for reimbursement. Ms. Jennifer Moon, Chief, Office of Policy and Budgetary Affairs, concurred with Mr. Marquez’s comments. She stated that, if $9 million remained, it was not because the funds were not spent but due to not having been drawn-down yet. She advised that she was not confident that any of it would be available to be reallocated. Ms. Moon noted a formula was not developed for allocation of the dollars, and the County Administration would be making reimbursements until the cap was met. She further noted the cap had not been met as municipalities continued to submit their paperwork and requesting the drawdown of funds. Commissioner Hardemon commented on the flexibility he had as a City Commissioner to create programs that were prudent for his residents; and now as a County Commissioner, he had no flexibility to create programs that would benefit UMSA residents. He suggested that, if UMSA funds were still available, the Board members should allow flexibility in determining the best direction for programs in their communities. Ms. Moon stated the County Administration tried to separate funds in order to provide services specifically in UMSA; however, allocations were made from those funds for certain programs. She noted the majority of the funding was spent on direct County services that were being provided for the County as a whole rather than specific program for UMSA residents. Commissioner Higgins spoke in support of the proposed resolution and thanked Commissioner Hardemon for sponsoring this item. She reminded the Board that UMSA and the municipalities were not excluded from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act programs created by the Board. Chairman Diaz, Commissioner Gilbert, III and Commissioners Monestime, Regalado, Heyman and McGhee requested to be added as co-sponsors. There being no further discussion, the Board proceeded to vote on the foregoing proposed resolution as presented.

County Attorney	1/26/2021		Assigned	Michael J. Mastrucci		1/26/2021

Board of County Commissioners	1/26/2021		Per Ord 20-38, item placed by BCC Chair without committee review and not subject to 4-day rule

Legislative Text

TITLE
RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. R-1231-20 TO PROVIDE THAT ANY MUNICIPALITIES THAT HAVE RECEIVED FUNDS FROM THE COUNTY THROUGH THE 2020 CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (CARES ACT) CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND FOR CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) PANDEMIC RESPONSE SHALL HAVE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 TO EXPEND SUCH FUNDS

BODY
WHEREAS, coronavirus disease 2019 (�COVID-19�) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a novel coronavirus that was first identified in December 2019; and
WHEREAS, the disease has spread globally, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic; and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order No. 20-52 declaring a state of emergency for the entire State of Florida as a result of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez declared a state of emergency for Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, these orders have since been extended; and
WHEREAS, as of January 26, 2021, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide is nearly 100 million, with approximately 25 million cases in the United States, 1.66 million cases in the State of Florida, and 361,000 cases in Miami-Dade County; and

WHEREAS, to help address the public health emergency and economic downturn set in motion by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Congress passed, and on March 27, 2020 President Donald Trump signed into law, H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (�CARES Act�); and
WHEREAS, the CARES Act is a $2 trillion stimulus package which provided, among other things:
* one-time checks of $1,200 to Americans earning a certain income;
* $349 billion in loans to small businesses;
* $17 billion of assistance to companies deemed crucial to national security;
* grants of $25 billion for passenger air carriers, $4 billion for air-cargo carriers, and $3 billion for certain contractors; and
* a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (�CRF�) for state, tribal, and local governments; and
WHEREAS, the CARES Act requires that the payments to local governments from the CRF only be used to cover expenses that:
* are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19;
* were not included in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 for the state or local government; and
* were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020; and
WHEREAS, the State of Florida was allocated $8.328 billion from the CRF, of which the County received $474 million; and
WHEREAS, on August 4, 2020, this Board adopted Resolution No. R-781-20 authorizing the County Mayor to negotiate and execute interlocal agreements with each of the municipalities in the County, using a total of not-to-exceed $100,000,000.00 in CARES Act CRF funds allocated as follows: (1) $75,000,000.00 for reimbursement of FEMA local match eligible expenditures and any CARES Act eligible governmental operations expenditures that are not FEMA reimbursable, and (2) $25,000,000.00 for municipal programmatic proposals subject to approval in advance by the Board; and
WHEREAS, interlocal agreements with municipalities throughout the County were subsequently entered into setting forth the terms of the dissemination of such CARES Act CRF funds to the municipalities for reimbursement of such eligible expenditures; and
WHEREAS, on November 13, 2020, this Board adopted Resolution No. R-1158-20 which, among other things, directed the County Mayor to use any CARES Act CRF funds that remain unspent as of December 15, 2020, with the exception of child and adult day care funds reallocated in Resolution No. R-908-20, to offset the County�s own expenses related to COVID-19 mitigation and relief, if fiscally possible within legally available means; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2020, this Board adopted Resolution No. R-1231-20 providing that, notwithstanding Resolution No. R-1158-20, any municipalities that have received CARES Act CRF funds from the County for COVID-19 pandemic response shall have as much time as necessary to expend such funds before the December 30, 2020 deadline imposed by the CARES Act; and

WHEREAS, on December 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the �Act�), a $2.3 trillion spending bill that combined $900 billion in stimulus relief for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill for the 2021 federal fiscal year; and
WHEREAS, although the Act did not provide any new direct aid to state and local governments and did not change the rules governing allowable use of funds under the CARES Act CRF, the Act did extend the deadline by which expenditures under the CARES Act CRF must be incurred from December 30, 2020 to December 31, 2021; and
WHEREAS, accordingly, this Board desires to amend Resolution No. R-1231-20 to allow any municipalities that have received CARES Act CRF funds from the County for COVID-19 pandemic response until September 30, 2021 to expend such funds,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Amends Resolution No. R-1231-20 to allow any municipalities that have received CARES Act CRF funds from the County for COVID-19 pandemic response until September 30, 2021 to expend such funds.
Section 2. Authorizes the County Mayor or Mayor�s designee to negotiate and execute any documents necessary to effectuate the purposes of this resolution, including amendments to existing interlocal agreements with the municipalities, following approval of such documents by the County Attorney�s Office for form and legal sufficiency.