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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOW 2020-04-27 Item 3A - COVID-19 - Weekly Coronavirus ReportCOUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS ---------------------------------- Initials Meetinga Date Prepared by Mayor's review Council review 4/27/20 RB ITEM INFORMATION ITEMNO. 3.A. STAFF SPONSOR: RACHEL BIANCHI ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: 4/27/20 AGENDA ITEM TITLE A weekly update on the City's planning and response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) CATEGORY ® Discussion Mtg Date 04127120 ❑ Motion Mtg Date ❑ Resolution Mtg Date ❑ Ordinance Mtg Date ❑ Bid Award Mtg Date ❑ Public Hearing Mtg Date ❑ Otber Mtg Date SPONSOR ❑ Council ® Mayor ❑ HR ❑ DCD ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ TS ❑ P&R ❑ Police ❑ Pik SPONSOR'S The City is actively engaged in regional efforts to address the coronavirus (COVID-19). SLTMNLARY Staff are providing the Council with updated information regarding the City's response to COVID-19. REVIE','ED BY ❑ Trans&Infrastructure ❑ Communit sys/Safety- ❑ Finance Com ❑ Planning/Economic Dev. ❑ LTAC ❑ Arts Comm. ❑ Parks Comm. ❑ Planning Comm. DATE: N /A COMMITTEE CHAIR: RECOMMENDATIONS: SPONSOR/ADMIN. N/A COMMITTEE N/A COST IMPACT / FUND SOURCE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED AMOUNT BUDGETED APPROPRIATION REQUIRED Fund Source: Comments: MTG. DATE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTION 04/27/20 MTG. DATE ATTACHMENTS 04/27/20 Coronavirus Report 2 Coronavirus Response Update April 27, 2020 Essential Services and City Operations There have been no changes to essential services and City operations since the last report. Financial Stabil On Monday, April 13, 2020 Finance Department staff began working with the Council's Finance Committee to determine next steps as the City identifies how it will fully close the financial gap associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The Finance Committee met again on Tuesday, April 21 and will meet on Monday, April 27, 2020. It is expected the full Council will begin discussions on this on April 27 at the Committee of the Whole meeting with follow-up discussions and possible decisions in the upcoming regular meetings. Revenue impacts will be discussed, and possible options will be presented to align revenues to expenses in the near future that will include additional budget, program and position reductions since the Coronavirus financial impacts are expected to extend into 2021 and beyond. Police Staffing and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Police staffing since the last report. Calls for service are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Fire Staffing and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Fire staffing since the last report. Calls for service are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Human Services Human Services data, similar to that for Police and Fire, are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Anecdotally, staff has shared that their call volume is significantly higher than normal, and they have been helping residents on a variety of issues, including: • Requests for rental assistance • Requests for utility assistance for Tukwila customers • Filling out paperwork associated with PSE's up to $1,000 utility credit • Referring people to Seattle City Light and other utilities low-income/senior discount programs • Applying for United Way funds ($5 million was made available through the Seattle Foundation; funds were spent out within two business days) • Help tracking down stimulus checks • Identifying and referring other resources that residents could qualify for in the community • Referral to Tukwila Food Pantry and Best Starts for Kids Human Services staff will begin distributing the HB 1406 funds in late April/early May as the May rental assistance requests come in. Human Services staff collaborated with Finance Staff to ensure the City could make direct payments to landlords, after proper paperwork is received, thereby saving significant funds that would K have had to be spent on administration fees through one of the City's non-profit partners. Staff expects to spend the Council -authorized amount of HB 1406 funds collected up through February of this year. Staff will return to Council on May 18 with a more thorough update on the disbursement of HB 1406 funds. Human Services staff will be working with residents to "patchwork" funding together to cover what is expected to be two to three months of unpaid rent. Staff will work to leverage the City funds and identify other programs that people can qualify for to add additional funds (such as partner organizations that received Seattle Foundation disbursements, King County Bar Association, Tukwila Children's Foundation and others) so that residents can cover as much of the unpaid rent as possible. Staff recognizes that the reality is that most people who will be able to return to work and begin earning income again will be working to pay the following month's rent and not able to earn enough to pay previous months' back rent. Calls for rental and other assistance appear to be coming from a wide variety of residents from diverse language and racial backgrounds. Staff has spoken with a number of people who speak Somali, Spanish and many of Asian heritage. Most of these individuals were previously employed prior to the coronavirus pandemic, many in the hospitality and "gig" sectors, such as driving for Lyft or Uber, or cleaning Air B&Bs. Staff is also carefully following the furloughs and layoffs at the airport, as many Tukwila residents are employed there, and airport contractors are undertaking a large number of furloughs and layoffs right now with the decline in travel. Business Recovery More Federal Funding On April 21, the US Senate approved an additional $321 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and an additional $60 billion in funding for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Advance program. We expect this funding to be approved by the US House of Representatives and President within a few days. This is significant funding that will hopefully reach the small businesses who didn't receive funding through the first round. Regional Economy Operations have resumed at some Boeing facilities in the Puget Sound. This follows a multi -week suspension of manufacturing operations while Boeing benchmarked other manufacturing companies and analyzed federal and state health guidelines and put new safeguards and procedures in place to protect employees from the coronavirus. Tukwila's Saving Local Campaign The City Council authorized $50,000 in lodging tax funds to support a campaign focused on a buy now, play later initiative to support our local entertainment, restaurant, retail, and hospitality businesses. Staff is working with the Mammoth Agency to build out and launch the campaign. A soft launch is scheduled for next week. Business Outreach Staff sent an email to all Tukwila businesses with updates on the additional federal funding and other resources. Meeting our Community's Basic Needs Food Security City staff are in communication with a variety of partners that serve our community. The Tukwila Pantry continues to serve several hundreds of families at each distribution event, and it appears the numbers are growing. The National Guard has deployed four members to assist in food prep and distribution. The City has S1 loaned the Pantry a refrigerated truck to store perishable foods. Staff from Parks and Recreation and one from Community Services and Engagement continue to assist the Pantry in packaging food for families as well as food distribution. The Pantry is low on donations; the City used its social media platforms to ask the community for additional supplies. Staff are working to determine whether reimbursable FEMA funds can be used for this purpose. Seniors City staff again supported our senior community through direct food distribution to homebound residents. Staff calls residents on Monday and Tuesday, to set up a Wednesday meal delivery. This week staff delivered 674 meals to seniors (multiple meals to each individual), an increase from last week where approximately 620 meals were delivered. In addition, through a partnership with the Food Innovation Network, Halal meals were delivered. The City has spent just over $11,000 on senior meals, with the funding coming from the King County Seniors and Veterans levy. Staff are working to determine whether reimbursable FEMA funds can be used for this purpose. Students Technology and Innovation Services (TIS) staff report that all 300 hot spots have been distributed to Tukwila School District students. The hot spots have the ability to connect multiple devices and multiple students in the same household. Public Safety Plan Construction Projects There have been no changes to the Public Safety Plan projects since the last report. Compliance with the Governor's Order There have been no changes to compliance issues since the last report. 0.