94 cities, counties register for reimbursement for COVID-19 expenses

The State’s application window is open until June 10 for cities, counties to receive first round of reimbursements from CARES Act CRF funds.

 OKLAHOMA CITY (June 2, 2020) – The State of Oklahoma announced today that cities and counties have from June 1 through June 10 to submit their first round of applications to the State’s CARES FORWARD team to receive reimbursement funding for local government expenses incurred due to the presence of COVID-19. To date, 94 cities and counties across Oklahoma have requested to participate in the CARES FORWARD reimbursement platform.

“The State has put into place a sound platform to thoroughly review and quickly process reimbursement needs from cities and counties impacted by COVID-19,” said State COO John Budd. “We have 94 cities and counties who have already engaged with the State, and we encourage all others to reach out to the State as soon as possible to begin discussions on how these federal funds can support their services impacted by the novel virus.”

For cities and counties who have not yet registered with the State to participate in the CARES FORWARD reimbursement program, please submit your information here: governor.ok.gov/crfgrants.

Cities and counties will be able to submit reimbursement applications during the first 10 days of every month, with the remainder of the month reserved for the State to review and validate applications as well as process payments. Per federal law, CARES FORWARD will process COVID-19 related reimbursements from cities, counties and State agencies until the end of January 2021.

While reimbursements are administered by the State, the federal funds are available due to the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in late March. This federal stimulus delivered $1.2 billion to the State of Oklahoma to support COVID-19 response, to include expansion of testing and tracing, purchasing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and improvement of infrastructure or operations for delivering public services impacted by the presence of the novel virus.

Governor Kevin Stitt established CARES FORWARD in May, assembling a team of public employees who have an expertise in finance, federal grants, and auditing and are led by the State’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) John Budd and Secretary of Budget Mike Mazzei to oversee the $1.2 billion in stimulus funds. The mission of CARES FORWARD is to maximize all federal dollars available for State agencies and local governments to rebuild and recover during this unprecedented time and to maintain the integrity of Oklahoma’s $1.2 billion in CRF funds for COVID-19 related expenses, emergencies, and pandemic preparedness.

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