On Monday, Governor Sununu announced that the Governor’s Office of Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) allocated $32 million to municipalities from the CARES Act Flex Funds to cover eligible COVID-19-related expenses incurred by municipalities from March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020.  This Municipal Relief Funding (MRF) is intended to make municipalities whole by paying for pandemic-related expenses that are not covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursements.  The MRF is a reimbursement program, with each municipality allocated a maximum amount for which reimbursement requests may be filed. Again, municipalities will be reimbursed only for non-FEMA eligible COVID-19-related expenses actually incurred up to the amounts allocated.  

Municipalities are required to execute a grant award document and submit reimbursement requests to GOFERR in accordance with the following schedule. If a municipality fails to submit a request by the applicable deadline, a reimbursement payment for expenses incurred during the applicable time period will not be made. The deadlines are as follows: 

• By June 1, 2020, for eligible expenses incurred from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2020;
• By July 15, 2020, for eligible expenses incurred from May 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020; and
• By September 15, 2020, for eligible expenses incurred from July 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020. 

GOFERR will make every effort to issue all checks within 30 days after receipt of the request. In September, local governments will be required to estimate the additional COVID-19-related expenses they will incur through December 31. GOFERR will use this information in considering whether further relief might be needed after August 31.  Any amount allocated to a municipality that exceeds its eligible expenses from March 1 to August 31submitted for reimbursement, will, after August 31,  lapse back to the state for other disbursement. This money may be accepted in accordance with the NHMA Guidance on Acceptance and Expenditure of CARES Act Assistance by Local Governments, posted on the NHMA COVID-19 Resources page. 

The MRF may be used for a variety of COVID-19-related expenses, including increased welfare costs, interest on tax anticipation notes, building disinfecting and modifications for social distancing, telework costs for remote municipal operations, and more. However, the money may not be: 

• Expended for costs accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020;
• Used to compensate for revenue shortfalls;
• Used for FEMA-eligible expenses;
• Applied toward the 25% local match required for FEMA-eligible expenses;
• Used toward the same expenses covered by other federal grants such as community development block grants. 

Information regarding the MRF program, including the Town-By-Town Allocation, Program Overview and Guidance, GOFERR Grant Agreement and GOFERR Reimbursement Request Form are available on the Municipal and County Payments page of the GOFERR website.       

We know there are lots of questions regarding the MRF program, and we are in the process of preparing guidance addressing those questions. Please bear with us as we work with state officials to provide the answers you need.