Reports

The Office has reviewed two of the Governor’s decisions regarding the spending of Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars. We are providing this guidance now to ensure the Governor has an opportunity to correct identified spending that does not comply or may not comply with use restrictions. We have also consulted with The United States Treasury Office of the Inspector General to confirm our conclusions.

We recommend that the City Council accept the City Auditor’s preliminary review of documentation for COVID-19 related costs to support receipt of emergency public assistance through the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF).

Act 115 of 2019 established the Vermont Emergency Economic Recovery Grants program and affords the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) and the Department of Taxes (Department) significant discretion for developing guidelines to implement the $152 million program, but the law also requires certain procedures and standards. The guidelines developed by ACCD and the Department – specifically the first-come, first-served distribution of public dollars and the absence of an evaluation of need in the application process – may not be consistent with the legislation. This approach does...

Memorandum: The Office requests the legislature add an explicit requirement in all future bills authorizing the expenditure of COVID-19 funds. The State Auditor’s Office must have access to records that relate to eligibility for and use of economic recovery grant funds.

Memorandum: There is desire to inject the CARES Act funding into the community as soon as possible. However, some aspects of this bill raise concerns about risk that deserve your consideration. Creating the program and appropriating $50 million before the Tax Department has established “a formula for determining the amount of grant awards” is a significant delegation of authority without any guidance.

Memorandum: The recently issued U.S. Treasury Coronavirus Relief Fund FAQ1 has implications for the Governor’s proposed Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. As proposed, the Vermont EIDL program to be administered by the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) establishes a perpetual revolving loan fund. However, the FAQ indicates that all loan repayments subsequent to December 30, 2020 must be returned to the U.S. Treasury.

We recommend that the City Council accept the City Auditor’s interim report on the status of internal controls for documenting COVID-19 related costs to support receipt of emergency public assistance grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).