Expenditure Tracking

On a March 18, 2020 call with the White House, it was again recommended that local governments track all expenses, including personnel, for possible reimbursement. The White House has not issued any guidance on which categories of spending will potentially qualify for reimbursement.

Update March 20, 2020 - Several Finance Directors have also recommended tracking lost revenues. For example parks and recreation program income.  

Expenditure Restraint Program

Q: Will municipalities that buy additional supplies and make other unanticipated expenditures in 2020 associated with responding to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic and the national and state declared public health emergencies jeopardize their eligibility to receive expenditure restraint program (ERP) payments in 2021?

A: No. The Expenditure Restraint Program law (Wis. Stat. § 79.05(2)(c)) expressly exempts unreimbursed expenses related to an emergency declared under Wis. Stat. § 323.10 from the ERP spending limits. Governor Evers’ Executive Order #72, declaring a health emergency in response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus, expressly states that the emergency is being declared under authority provided by Wis. Stats. § 323.10. Therefore, unreimbursed expenses associated with providing unanticipated health and safety services in response to the Coronavirus pandemic are exempt from the ERP spending limit. We anticipate that DOR will at some point publish guidance on this issue and how best to document unreimbursed expenses related to the Coronavirus public health emergency. March 13, 2020

Deadline extended for VW Transit Capital Assistance Grant application 

Due to recent disruptions related to COVID-19, the VW Mitigation Program has extended the deadline for the VW Transit Capital Assistance Grant application by two weeks to Wednesday, April 1, 2020. The deadline was March 18.

Applicants who anticipate being unable to meet the new April 1 deadline should contact the VW Program Administrator at benjaminh.vondra@wisconsin.gov.

Instructions for completing and submitting the application are available in the Grant Announcement available on the VW Mitigation webpage.