On Thursday, August 6, the City received a check for $2,268,707 as the Phase 1 allocation (30%) of $7,562,356 from the State of Georgia’s allocation under the federal CARES Act Section 5001. The state distributed funds based on per capita population (except that local governments with population of 500,000 or more received direct allocation from federal government). State guidelines required these funds to be expended by September 1, 2020. Any remaining funds would be required to be submitted back to the State of Georgia.

The City of Savannah entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the United Way of the Coastal Empire on August 10, 2020 to distribute these federal funds quickly, responsibly, and in a manner compliant with strict federal guidelines.

Updated state guidelines have qualified Public Safety Pay as a reimbursable expense. The State of Georgia approved the City's expense request of the Phase 1 allocation of $2,268,707 on August 21, 2020. The City is currently in the process of requesting reimbursement of the additional $5,293,649 (70%) of the Phase 1 allocation.

Using Public Safety Pay expenses as our reimbursable cost has allowed the City of Savannah to satisfy the September 1 deadline requirement per State guidelines. The commitment of $3.3 million outlined within the MOA with the United Way remain the same, however the expenditure deadline can be adjusted.

The amendment offered within this agenda items removes and replaces the September 1, 2020 expenditure deadline with a new deadline of December 30, 2020.

Approval