6. CARES Act election funding Staff ReportSCANDIA
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: August 5, 2020
To: Scandia City Council
From: Brenda Eklund, City Clerk
Re: CARES Act Election Funding
Background: The Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) received funding through the 2020
CARES Act "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally,
for the 2020 Federal election cycle." Minnesota Laws 2020, Chapter 77, authorized the use of
these funds within Minnesota, including allowing for distributing these funds to local
governments for use consistent with the state and federal requirements.
Division Manager of Taxpayer Services and Elections at Washington County, Steve Gransee,
informed staff that in addition to the Office of the Secretary of State providing all polling places
with PPE supplies this year, the grant funds will reimburse any other qualifying COVID related
election expenditures. The total grant for Washington County is $218,118.00. $111,844.74 has
been allocated to the County and $106,273.26 to be distributed to all of the municipalities
within Washington County. A formula was used to equitably distribute the funds, with Scandia
qualifying for a grant amount of $1,790.77.
The enabling legislation specifies that a political subdivision is eligible to use the funds for no
more than 80% of the total cost, requiring a local match of 20%. There are no stipulations on
what funds can be used for the match, and allowable for the general local government CARES
Act funding to be used for the match.
Staff is recommending acceptance of the funds. The grant funds can be used for the purchase
of 6 plexiglass check-in shields, additional sanitizing supplies, and the cost for additional
cleaning of the polling place scheduled throughout election days for the primary and general
elections. In the event all of the appropriated funds indicated above are not spent in
accordance with the grant requirements, the remaining funds will be made available for
Washington County to claim for costs associated with the absentee ballot process.
A resolution to accept the grant funds is included with the meeting packet. The resolution
agrees to the allocation of funds as provided by the OSS default municipality distribution with
the further agreement that if Scandia does not claim reimbursement for the entire amount, any
remaining funds would be available to the Washington County for reimbursement of Absentee
Ballot costs.
Options: 1) Approve Resolution No. 2020-27 Accepting CARES Act Election Funds
2) Do not approve Resolution No. 2020-27.
3) Take no action.
Recommendation: Option 1