Oklahoma cities, counties request COVID-19 reimbursements

Over $2 million from Oklahoma's port i on of the the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act have been distributed to 21 cities and counties to cover C OVID -19 related expenses, Gov. Kevin Stitt's office announced Wednesday.

Between June 1 and June 10, the state received reimbursement requests from 67 cities and counties for a total of $7.5 million. So far ,30% of those requests have been processed, and all requests should be completed by the end of the month, Stitt said.

“Help is on the way ,” Stitt said at a press conference Wednesday. “The state of Oklahoma stands ready with all of our cities and counties. We want to help them move forward and get past this.”

Oklahoma was allocated $1.2 billion from the federal government to reimburse cities, counties and state agencies for money spent on personal protective equipment, new cleaning procedures and IT improvements for telework.

At the press conference, St it twas joined by various county commissioner sand local mayors who already were awarded funding.

Payne County Commissioner Chris Reding said he appreciated the speed at which funding was delivered. The federal government approved the CARES Act in late March, and the state had to create an oversight body and set up a process for distributing the funds.

“The money is a blessing,” Reding said.

About one-third of the $1.2 billion is set aside for cities and counties, with there st going toward state agencies and other grant programs, said governor' s spokesperson Charlie Hannema. Roughly 180 cities and counties have setup accounts with the governor's office indicating they are interested in applying for funds, he added.

The expectation is for application stoat least double in July, according to a news release.

Reimbursement applications will be accepted for the first 10 days of every month until January 2021.