REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL August 20, 2020 FROM: BRYON HORN, Chief Information Officer Information Services Department BY: KIM JACKSON, Administrative Manager Information Services Department SUBJECT ..Title Action pertaining to CARES Act Expense Reimbursement: 1. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the 4th Amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution No. 2020-159 to appropriate $15,300 in CARES Act Funds in the Information Services Department for Expense Reimbursement. (Requires 5 affirmative votes) (Subject to Mayor's Veto) ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that City Council adopt the 4th Amendment to the Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2020-159 to provide the necessary CARES Act funding in order to reimburse Information Services Department for expenses incurred while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of this reimbursement is $15,300. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COVID-19 made it imperative that the City of Fresno (City) enable its employees to work remotely to stop the spread of the virus. The Information Services Department (ISD) plays a critical role in enabling and supporting these capabilities and has incurred unexpected expenses in doing so. These COVID-19 related expenses have been tracked and ISD has submitted them for reimbursement from CARES Act funding. The 4th Amendment to the Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2020-159 allows ISD to access these designated funds. BACKGROUND On March 18, 2020, Emergency Order 2020-02 and Emergency Order 2020-03 stated that the City would begin sheltering in place and that persons over 65 and the vulnerable population should stay at home, respectively. In order to keep City operations from being disrupted, ISD worked to ensure that a large percentage of the City's employees would have remote working capabilities in a short period of time. In order to successfully respond to the Emergency Orders, ISD has seen an increased expense in both personnel and non-personnel costs. Hardware and software have been, and continue to be, secured and deployed. Many of our employees have worked extra hours both in the transition to, and support of, remote work thus increasing our personnel expenses as well. The 4th Amendment to the Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2020-159 seeks to allow ISD to access the CARES Act funding reimbursement in the amount of $15,300 for continuation of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These expenses have been reviewed by Finance and have been certified by them to be CARES Act eligible. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, this item is not a project for purposes of CEQA. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not considered because this item does not include a bid or award of a construction or service contract. ISD will be using the Federal CARES Act funding to reimburse these expenses. FISCAL IMPACT These COVID-19 related telework expenses are unbudgeted and ISD has been utilizing its limited operating funds to cover these costs. Council approved the Coronavirus Relief Fund Strategic Plan on June 30, 2020, which provided funding for expanding and improving the capability of City employee to telework. This item will utilize that funding for the approved purpose of supporting remote working capabilities. Attachment Resolution Adopting the 4th Amendment to the Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2020-159