URGENT - Cares Act Funding Update

Mayors/City Managers:

The State of Oklahoma’s CARES FORWARD team has concluded their first month with receiving and processing cities’ and counties’ reimbursement requests from the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Roughly $7.5 million in reimbursements were requested and are in the process of being distributed. This accounts for 2% of the total funds the U.S. Treasury has recommended for distribution through reimbursements to cities and counties from Oklahoma’s $1.2 billion in CRF through the end of the year.

The window to file new reimbursement requests will open again from July 1 to July 10. In preparation for this time, CARES FORWARD will be holding four Zoom “Help Sessions” to answer your questions and to share best practices. The attached PDF has more information, including dates/times for the help sessions and login information for the help sessions. If you have trouble accessing the link, or if you have questions in general, please do not hesitate to reach out by e-mailing their team of professionals at CRFhelp@omes.ok.gov.

Furthermore, in order for a city or county to participate in the reimbursement of CRF funds, you must be a registered vendor with the State. If you have not done this yet, please fill out your information using the following link: www.governor.ok.gov/crfgrants. It is not too late to participate in this program that is offering your city and county critical federal funds to support your efforts to respond to and minimize the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Addition:

Governor Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Lance Frye, M.D. will provide an update on the State’s response to COVID-19 at 2 p.m. Tuesday June 29 (tomorrow) in the Governor’s Large Conference Room at the Oklahoma State Capitol. You can watch the update live on Governor Stitt’s Facebook page at this link https://www.facebook.com/GovStitt/.

Thanks,

Mike Fina
Executive Director
Oklahoma Municipal League