The US Department of Treasury has issued their final ruling on SLFRF funds last week with much needed clarification and flexibility on various fund use. The main changes are as follows:
Revenue Loss Category
This category has added a second simpler option:
- A standard allowance of up to $10 million in aggregate, not to exceed their award amount, during the program.
- Recipients may use funds up to the amount of revenue loss for government services; generally, services traditionally provided by recipient governments are government services, unless Treasury has stated otherwise (See restricted use section).
- This category has a more streamline reporting requirement.
Public Health and Economic Impacts
- Capital expenditures was added to program and services un the Public Health and Economic Impacts category that support Covid-19 public health or economic response. Such as building certain affordable housing, childcare facilities, schools, hospitals, etc.
- In addition, the final rule allows for a broader set of uses to restore and support government employment, including hiring above a recipient’s pre-pandemic baseline, providing funds to employees that experienced pay cuts or furloughs, avoiding layoffs, and providing retention incentives.
Premium Pay
- Final ruling broadened the share of eligible workers who can receive premium pay without a written justification while maintaining a focus on lower-income and frontline workers performing essential work.
Water, Sewer, & Broadband Infrastructure
- Final ruling broadened the eligible broadband infrastructure investment use. This category now includes eligible water and sewer infrastructure investments, including a broader range of lead remediation and stormwater management projects.
The full final ruling can be found here.
