CARES Act Funds: Scalable Successes

The response, recovery, and ultimate renewal from the COVID-19 crisis represents perhaps the most significant challenge facing local governments in a generation. While the word “unprecedented” is over-used, it is still apt. The scale and complexity of the pandemic coupled with an uncertain political landscape and widespread natural disasters leaves leaders to write the playbook as they go. Best practices are emerging in real time as the crisis and recovery unfold in complex and evolving contexts.

These combined catastrophes produced something else unprecedented: $2 trillion in federal relief distributed through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which took effect on March 27, 2020. Additional stimulus packages may well follow.

What is most useful in this time is the opportunity for governments to rapidly scale best practices and quickly stand up solutions that have worked in other jurisdictions, particularly as spending deadlines loom.

Local governments have shown remarkable resilience and agility in responding to opportunities for ingenuity provided by CARES Act dollars, particularly in leveraging technology. Moving a high volume of funds in effective, equitable ways, for example, has been achieved in many jurisdictions by integrating disparate sources of data and serving up real-time insights to decision-makers.

CARES Act Funds: Live Webinar

Register now for the Nov. 19 webinar featuring former Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor, President of Funkhouser & Associates Mark Funkhouser, and other local leaders on navigating and using CARES Act funds.

Business Continuity

Local governments succeeded in quickly pivoting to support social distancing and remote work while providing critical aid to those who needed it most. Transforming in-person processes to digital ones fit within CARES Act expenditure guidelines and facilitated increased and shifting workloads without increasing head counts. Digital solutions also supported the continuity of business operations when buildings were closed.

Stockton, California, City Manager Harry Black, notes in a new CARES Act playbook that a quick pivot to outdoor dining was crucial for local restaurants. “The outdoor dining was a big thing, and in 24 hours we developed and implemented an outdoor dining permit.” The city did the same for nail salons and other similar businesses within just 72 hours. Not only did the city create new permit types with staff working remotely, but the businesses themselves could also file applications and track their status online.

Virtual Operations

With CARES Act funding, most local governments continue to avoid deep cuts to essential staff while stabilizing their communities. Local governments have settled into telework with employee and vendor self-service, virtual timesheets, and digital content management. Online processes for residents include online bill paying, remote permitting and licensing, remote public meetings, and two-way engagement tools that include incident reporting, citizen open data and self-service portals, and notification software that provides essential information via multiple channels.

Early wins in remote work, continuation of operations, data analysis, and civic engagement are accelerated advancements that will remain and grow. Local leaders recognize pandemic response and recovery is a marathon, not a sprint, and these advancements are helping governments feel as if they have hit their stride.

Join the webinar on Nov. 19 for firsthand accounts from local government and industry leaders, including Matt Chase, executive director of NACo; Julie Demuth, budget manager, Pierce County, Washington; and T.C. Broadnax, City Manager, Dallas, Texas, on demonstrated solutions that can be applied to any jurisdiction. Participants will receive a new industry publication, A Local Government Leaders’ Playbook for the CARES Act, which contains detailed findings to help navigate current and future funding challenges.