Reports

The Office of the State Comptroller issued a report in connection with its initial, limited review of the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) administration of the New Jersey COVID-19 CARES Act Marine Fisheries Assistance Grant Program (Fisheries Program). This letter memorializes the results from the Office of the State Comptroller and the independent COVID-19 Integrity Oversight Monitors reviews of the Fisheries Program and reports on DEP’s recent commitment to recoup public funds that should be returned to the State.

This report examines the damage the pandemic has inflicted on the restaurant, retail, and recreation sectors, and considers the distribution of federal funds for businesses in the City, particularly for businesses in low- and moderate-income communities and in historically underutilized business zones. While approaches to targeting federal funding have improved, the City and the State have already recognized that they need to do more to assist the City’s disadvantaged businesses. The state of these sectors suggests support may be necessary for some time for them to fully recover.

Millions of Americans still face housing insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 15 percent behind on rent payments at the end of June.1 Households in New York State (22 percent) and the New York City metropolitan area (26 percent), excluding counties outside the State, have an even greater share of residents behind on rent. New York City not only houses the majority of the State’s renters (63 percent), but also had relatively high rates of rent-burdened tenants prior to the pandemic.

For the period July 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021, we confirmed the completeness and accuracy for two samples of grant applications and supporting documentation submitted by Louisiana businesses.

The program guidance issued by ACCD on April 27, 2021 for the Economic Recovery Bridge Grant program uses 2020 federal tax loss to establish eligibility for grants consistent with the requirements of H.315 (Act 9). Focusing on tax loss may help target limited resources to businesses that need assistance to remain viable. However, clarification is needed in the program guidance to avoid reliance on a tax-based measure that is not representative of losses associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency and to prevent grant awards that exceed business need.

The Economic Recovery Bridge Grant program in H.315 uses 2020 federal tax loss to establish eligibility for grants. Focusing on tax loss may help target limited resources to businesses that need assistance to remain viable. However, federal tax loss could include some deductions that increase 2020 losses but overstate the businesses’ need for financial assistance.

Similar to the Economic Recovery Grant (ERG) programs, the Gap program requires that businesses demonstrate economic loss due to COVID-19 but does not define economic loss. If ACCD uses revenue loss to measure economic loss for businesses that were in operation prior to the pandemic, the Gap program will be exposed to the same risk the Joint Fiscal Office pointed out in its November 2020 memo to the Joint Fiscal Committee regarding the ERG program.

Since March 2020, Congress has passed various laws designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate the pandemic’s damage to the nation’s economy. One of the key legislative provisions was the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), designed mainly to help small businesses and sole proprietors meet payroll commitments during the crisis. The program has been allocated a total of $953 billion in three rounds of funding in March ($349 billion), April ($320 billion), and December ($284 billion). This report evaluates the impact of the PPP in New York City measured against the...

This letter report provides an update on our assessment of the State’s management of federal funds related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a high risk statewide issue.

We reviewed the allocation process and monitoring of emergency COVID-related service grants the City has made using funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the State of California. This preliminary review, the third in a series on emergency expenses,1 aims to support cost recovery oversight, including compliance with federal and state record-keeping, procurement, and audit requirements, as outlined in the Recovery Annex of the City’s Emergency Operations Plan.

The purpose of this document is to describe the general regulatory and internal control framework the City of Sacramento will operate under for the City’s COVID-19 response and all COVID-19 related activities. This document is an essential resource for the City as it identifies key COVID-19 regulatory and internal control information that can aid in maximizing the City’s eligibility for State and Federal resources. This document is a general guide for the City to use.

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).

To assist the Council of the District of Columbia in its oversight responsibilities during the Coronavirus public health emergency, the Office of the D.C. Auditor (ODCA) has compiled the following letter report, COVID-19 Federal Funding Streams Available to the District of Columbia, a summary of federal funding available to states and, in some cases, to cities, in recently enacted legislation including the following

Memorandum: Auditor Office has begun to examine the State's distribution and spending of more than $1.3 billion of federal funding that has been or is expected to be received via the federal pandemic response/stimulus acts – including the CARES Act.

Memorandum: The state recognized that some sheriff departments sought and received loans through SBA. Other state governmental entities may have also received PPP loans or may be considering applying for them.