On March 27 Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established the Coronavirus Relief Fund and appropriated $150 billion to the Coronavirus Relief Fund.Under the CARES Act, the funds are to be used to make payments for specified uses to states and certain local governments. The U.S. Department of Treasury issued guidance on April 22 regarding the use of the funds for state, territorial, local, and tribal governments.

On April 28 Howard County received information and guidance from the office of the Missouri State Treasurer regarding the distribution of certain CARES Act funds from the State of Missouri. The Treasurer’s office requested Howard County to review, approve, sign and return a certification for payment by Friday, May 1 based on the guidance issued by the State Treasurer. Based on the calculations and estimates by the State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Howard County anticipates to receive $1,173,317 today (Wednesday).

Howard County will utilize the guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the State of Missouri in making determinations about the use, including allocation and award of the funds received under the CARES Act. Howard County is in the process of reviewing requirements and guidelines issued by the Treasury and will develop policies addressing issues related to the next anticipated steps in this process, including who can apply to receive these funds and the process and requirements for doing so.

In total 106 local governments submitted complete certification forms and have had their payments processed, totaling almost $468 million. Counties who have not submitted their forms are encouraged to do so expeditiously. Last week, Governor Parson approved the recommendation of the CARES Act Funding working group regarding the amount of money each local government would receive. 

Howard County has had just two confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, both of which were beleived to have been contracted through travel. Both cases are recovered.