Erie County to support all county municipalities with coronavirus relief funding

Every city, town, village in Erie County eligible to be reimbursed up to $1 million for non-personnel costs associated with COVID-19 response

Municipalities must submit itemized, FEMA-style claim for reimbursement

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Wednesday announced Erie County will be designating a portion of its coronavirus relief funds from the U.S. CARES Act to support municipalities with reimbursement for non-personnel costs associated with their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Every city, town and village in the county will be eligible for up to $1 million in reimbursement for new, unbudgeted expenses related to COVID-19. They must submit an itemized, FEMA-style claim for the funding.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only threatened the health of our community, it has stretched budgets countywide as municipalities face the challenge of protecting public health and safety while getting back to business as much and as soon as possible,” Poloncarz said. “We are taking this action to extend funding support to all cities, towns and villages in Erie County to augment their own efforts and ease the burden on their municipal budgets. This pandemic is the health crisis of our lifetime, affecting all of us, and extending this funding support is another way that we are working together to protect residents.”

Each municipality will be required to certify that all expenditures meet U.S. Treasury Department guidelines. They must enter into a contract with Erie County agreeing to follow such guidelines.

Reimbursable expenses must be incurred between the time the U.S. CARES Act was authorized in March and the end of 2020. All claims for reimbursement should be completed and returned by Sept. 30.