St. Charles to receive $1.9 million in CARES Act funding from Kane County

The St. Charles City Council has voted unanimously to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Kane County, opening the door for the city to receive $1.9 million in CARES Act funding allotted to the county by the federal government.

In an announcement at Monday's city council meeting, St. Charles Assistant Director of Finance Colleen Lavery told Mayor Ray Rogina and the aldermen the money will be used to reimburse the city for police, firefighter and 911 center salaries paid out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This, my friends, is good news," Rogina said at Monday's meeting.

Kane County received $92 million in CARES Act funding, approved in March, to be used for COVID-19 expenses accrued between March 1 and Dec. 30 of this year. The $1.9 million share for St. Charles is based on its population compared to other municipalities in the county.

Once the intergovernmental agreement with the county is finalized, the money should be available for city use by the end of the year, St. Charles Finance Director Chris Minick said. In addition to the Kane County funding, the city also expects about $32,000 from DuPage County to account for the small portion of St. Charles within its borders.

"Obviously we appreciate the allocation and the amount set aside for municipalities," Minick said.

"We're still a little bit behind but that's going to plug roughly half or two-thirds of the hole that we see," he added, referring to the economic impact of the pandemic.

By entering into the agreement, St. Charles agrees to certain terms including providing documentation to support the eligibility of expenses. Minick, however, said salary reimbursement meets the eligibility requirement.

Minick said other than possible Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money that might come through, the city won't receive additional federal funding unless another stimulus package is passed and includes something similar to the CARES Act.

"This will definitely help us mitigate some of the impacts COVID has had on the community," Minick said. "It actually came together pretty quickly considering the lack of guidance and parameters the county had to work with."