The original item was published from December 2, 2020 1:07 PM to December 2, 2020 1:53 PM
NLC Seeks Clarity from Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General Coronavirus Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Misspent Coronavirus Relief Funds
Last
week, the Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a
Coronavirus Relief Fund “Frequently Asked Questions Related to Reporting
and Recordkeeping.” Part of the document lays out the process for the
recoupment of misspent funds, though it is unclear whether it applies to some
or all municipalities. As a reminder, Treasury’s OIG is responsible for
monitoring and oversight of the receipt, disbursement, and use of Coronavirus
Relief Fund (CRF) payments.
Treasury’s OIG laid out two fact
patterns of how it will deal with funds that were used in violation of the
CARES Act.
The first, if it occurred before
December 30, 2020:
The prime recipient would need to
either recover such funds and redeploy them for COVID-19 related expenditures
or demonstrate that other eligible expenses incurred during the covered period
of March 1 through December 30, 2020 would qualify as allowable. The prime
recipient can dispute the determination of the OIG. Once OIG makes a final
determination, it will request a written response from the prime recipient to
include the corrective action(s) to remedy the noncompliance.
The second, if it occurred after
December 30, 2020:
The OIG may (1) seek recoupment
of funds, or (2) allow the prime recipient to demonstrate that other eligible
expenses incurred during the covered period of March 1 through December 30,
2020, would qualify as allowable.
Contact: Paul Penna, Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 ext. 110