HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 4189ORDINANCE NO. ____4189________
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS,
WASHINGTON, DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND
CREATING A NEW EDMONDS CARES FUND WHICH
SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
WHEREAS, our city and region are experiencing a public health emergency due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to sudden job losses, lower paychecks, and increased
household costs to deal with COVID-19 impacts for many residents, as well as business/revenue
losses for many local businesses; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor declared an emergency of the city due to the COVID-19 crisis on
March 5, 2020; and
WHEREAS, the Washington State Governor issued a Stay Home order on March 23,
2020, and
WHEREAS, on April 21, 2020, the Governor stated that “A safe return to public life will
require increased social and emotional support, food and housing security, educational and child
care support, internet infrastructure and equitable access to services”; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 8, Section 7 of the Washington Constitution, the City is
allowed to use public funds “for the necessary support of the poor and infirm;” and
WHEREAS, unemployment claims have increased greatly since the COVID-19 crisis
Began, with a high of 138,733 regular unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of
May 10, 2020 in Washington State, according to the state Department of Employment Security;
and
WHEREAS, households earning 60% or less of the county median income are among the
most affected by sudden drops in income and/or increased expenses; and
WHEREAS, about 25% of Edmonds’ households earned 60% or less of the Snohomish
County median family income in 2019; and
WHEREAS, the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and related
business shutdowns has severely impacted local businesses, resulting in substantial losses of
revenue, employee furloughs, layoffs and cutbacks, and additional expenses; and
WHEREAS, businesses other than those deemed “essential” by the Governor’s orders,
have been particularly impacted by business losses due to prolonged shutdowns; and
WHEREAS, some businesses in Edmonds employ a principally lower-wage employee
base, providing entry-level or low-barrier job opportunities for local residents; and
WHEREAS, many businesses that have suffered financially during the COVID-19-
related economic crisis face an uncertain future that could lead to business closures, as well as
employee furloughs and lay-offs; and
WHEREAS, some local residents in lower-income households, including those at or
below 60% of Snohomish County median income, are employed by local businesses and would
be even more adversely impacted if these businesses fail and/or substantially reduce available
jobs; and
WHEREAS, RCW 35A.12.130 allows city councils to adopt public emergency
ordinances, provided that the ordinance is passed by a majority plus one of the city council and
meets other requirements of the statute; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that COVID-19 and its associated impacts have
created a public health emergency, making it necessary for the protection of public health and
public safety to adopt an emergency ordinance to prevent homelessness and reduce health and
safety impacts by providing temporary assistance to qualifying households; and
WHEREAS, the City Council created the Housing and Supplementary Relief Program by
reallocating $100,000 from the Homelessness Response Fund to serve as funding grants of up to
$1,000 to individuals and households experiencing income loss, emergency expenses, imminent
housing insecurity, etc.; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor created a Community and Economic Relief Program, funded by
$200,000 in savings from City departments and consisting of three programs: 1) support to the
Edmonds Food Bank, 2) support to the Edmonds Senior Center, and 3) support to the Edmonds
Chamber Foundation WISH Fund business grants; and
WHEREAS, Governor Inslee announced that the state would award $300 million of the
state’s CARES funding to local governments that did not receive direct distributions under the
CARES Act; and
WHEREAS, the CARES Act provides that payments from the Fund may be used to cover
costs that:
1. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect
to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19);
2. were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020
(the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and
3. were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December
30, 2020; and
WHEREAS, funds may not be used to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover
expenditures that would not otherwise qualify under the statute. Although a broad range of uses
is allowed, revenue replacement is not a permissible use of Fund payments; and
WHEREAS, the CARES Act also specifies that expenditures using Fund payments must
be “necessary.” The Department of the Treasury understands this term broadly to mean that the
expenditure is reasonably necessary for its intended use in the reasonable judgment of the
government officials responsible for spending Fund payments; and
WHEREAS, The CARES Act also requires that payments be used only to cover costs
that were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. A cost
meets this requirement if either (a) the cost cannot lawfully be funded using a line item,
allotment, or allocation within that budget or (b) the cost is for a substantially different use from
any expected use of funds in such a line item, allotment, or allocation; and
WHEREAS, the “most recently approved” budget refers to the enacted budget for the
relevant fiscal period for the particular government, without taking into account subsequent
supplemental appropriations enacted or other budgetary adjustments made by that government in
response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. A cost is not considered to have been
accounted for in a budget merely because it could be met using a budgetary stabilization fund,
rainy day fund, or similar reserve account. Eligible costs must have incurred during the period
that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020; and
WHEREAS, Eligible expenditures include, but are not limited to, payment for:
1. Expenses of actions to facilitate compliance with COVID-19-related public health
measures, including:
• Expenses for food delivery to residents, including, for example, senior citizens
and other vulnerable populations, to enable compliance with COVID-19 public
health precautions.
• Expenses for care for homeless populations provided to mitigate COVID-19
effects and enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions.
• Expenses to assist individuals with payment of overdue rent or mortgage
payments to avoid eviction or foreclosure or unforeseen financial costs for
funerals and other emergency individual needs.
2. Expenses associated with the provision of economic support in connection with the
COVID-19 public health emergency, including:
• Expenditures related to the provision of grants to small businesses to reimburse
the costs of business interruption caused by required closures.
3. Any other COVID-19-related expense reasonably necessary to the function of
government that satisfy the Fund’s eligibility criteria;
WHEREAS the City will be eligible for up to $1,265,100 of the CARES funding from
the state; and
NOW THEREFORE;
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, ORDAINS AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City of Edmonds hereby accepts an allocation of up to $1,265,100 as the
City of Edmonds’ Federal CARES Act allocation, as administered and disbursed by the
Washington State Department of Commerce in the form of reimbursable funds, in accordance
with Federal CARES Act guidelines. Further the City Council authorizes the Mayor to enter into
the corresponding contract(s) with the Department of Commerce for administration and
disbursement of these funds.
Section 2. The Administrative Services Director is hereby authorized to create and
number a new fund to be known as the Edmonds CARES Fund for the purpose of accounting for
CARES Act-eligible payments used to facilitate compliance with COVID-19-related public
health measures, expenses associated with the provision of economic support in connection with
the COVID-19 public health emergency, and any other COVID-19-related expenses reasonably
necessary to the function of the City that satisfy the Act’s eligibility criteria.
Section 3. The Edmonds CARES Fund shall be administered by the Administrative
Services Director under the direction of the Mayor.
Section 4. There shall be kept by and under the direction of the Administrative Services
Director, such books, accounts and records as are necessary to control and report the CARES
eligible expenditures, and shall further subdivide the cash account thereof into three separately
designated accounts as follows:
A. Account “A” shall be the “COVID-19 City Expenditure Reimbursement” account into
which $265,100 of the CARES Act funding shall be allocated to reimburse those direct
City expenditures required to provide City services in response to the COVID-19
emergency that satisfy the CARES Act eligibility criteria.
B. Account “B” shall be the existing, City Council-approved “Housing and Supplemental
Relief Program” account into which a supplemental infusion of $300,000 to that program
from the CARES Act funding shall be allocated to reimburse those City expenditures
incurred through said Program, in compliance with the CARES Act eligibility criteria. In
addition, $50,000 from the Community and Economic Relief Program, initially
earmarked as a potential second round of funding for the Chamber Foundation WISH
Grant program, shall be reallocated to this account. Grant awards shall be in amounts up
to $1,000 for households of one to two members, while grant awards may be in amounts
of up to $1,500 for households of three or more members. An additional Snohomish
County-based human services organization shall be engaged by the City to assist in
administration of the existing Program.
C. Account “C” shall be the “Edmonds Business Support Grant Program” account into
which $700,000 of the CARES Act funding shall be allocated to reimburse those City
expenditures incurred through provision of individual financial support grants (in the
form of loans that are forgivable after four months of performance) of up to $10,000,
through an open, competitive application process, to eligible businesses that have
suffered substantial business losses and additional expenses due to the COVID-19
economic crisis, in compliance with the CARES Act eligibility criteria, which criteria
shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
i. Businesses with zero to thirty employees (part-time and full-time combined)
ii. A demonstrated year-over-year business/revenue loss of at least 30% in April or
May 2020;
iii. In business in Edmonds at least one year as of April 1, 2020;
iv. Declared intent and expectation to remain in business at least four months after
receipt of the grant;
In addition, the Mayor and City staff shall employ reasonable, objective and score-based
selection criteria to award grants to applicants, as required in the case of a large number
of applications, including such considerations as the following:
i. Particular consideration will be given to businesses owned by people of color,
women, veterans, and other minorities;
ii. Particular consideration will be given to those businesses that have not received
federal, state or county government assistance, and secondary consideration will
be given to those businesses that received lower-than-requested amounts of
federal, state or county government assistance;
iii. Greater consideration will be given to those businesses that have experienced
relatively greater business/revenue loss year-over-year in April or May 2020;
iv. Particular consideration will be given to geographic distribution across Edmonds’
various business districts in the award of these grants;
v. Particular consideration will be given to creative-sector businesses within the
State-certified Edmonds Creative District;
Section 5. In the case that there is any unused, City of Edmonds allocation from the
Federal CARES Act funds remaining ten days prior to the Department of Commerce expenditure
deadline, the amount of that allocation shall be used to purchase personal protective equipment
and supplies for use by the City and/or for distribution to direct-service, residential-based care
centers.
Section 6. The authority provided in Section 1 shall end by December 31, 2020.
Section 7. Any organization assisting the City in providing emergency aid under Section
4(B) shall provide a monthly written report to the City. The Administration shall provide the City
Council and general public a monthly written report about the amount of aid provided by the
City, the purpose and criteria by which it has been distributed, the reimbursement received from
the Department of Commerce, and any other pertinent information regarding the grant programs
outlined in Sections 4(B) and 4(C) above.
Section 8. Severability. If any section, subsection, clause, sentence, or phrase of this
ordinance should be held invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: June 19, 2020
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: June 23, 2020
PUBLISHED: June 26, 2020
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 23, 2020
ORDINANCE NO. 4189