This week’s edition of the Office of Recovery Newsletter features an update on the COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief Program. This program offers property tax assistance to help eligible Kansas small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The application for this program is officially open and small businesses must apply for assistance by April 15, 2023.

Also included is information about a funding opportunity for certain counties in Kansas. The US Department of Treasury recently released information about American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) payments. Approximately 50 counties in Kansas are eligible for funding through this program. Information on how to apply to receive the allocated LATCF funds can be found below.

For the latest Treasury updates and information about resources available to Kansans, see the “Updates to Services and Support” section of this newsletter. For the most up-to-date information, please visit the Office of Recovery website at: COVID.ks.gov.

ARPA Impacts Across Kansas

Application for COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief Now Open

This week, Governor Laura Kelly announced that Kansas small businesses can now apply to receive COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief. In June, bipartisan House Bill 2136 was signed into law, investing $50 million to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Businesses can learn whether they qualify for the program and how to access relief by accessing guidance from the Kansas Department of Revenue here.

The COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief Program is funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which requires a federal Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) to be completed for a business to be eligible to receive assistance.

“Due to federal requirements, the Kansas Department of Revenue cannot process a retailer's application for the Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief program unless a business has secured a federal UEI number,” Secretary of Revenue Mark Burghart said. “Doing so helps ensure the program’s guidelines are followed and the accurate accounting for disbursement of funds.”

The UEI is issued at no cost through the federal System for Award Management website, SAM.gov.

Due to recent increases in the number of entities registering with SAM.gov, it may take up to 25 business days for new registrations to be processed. For any issues related to registering with SAM.gov or obtaining a UEI, applicants can contact the Federal Service Desk at 866-606-8220.

Once registration is complete and confirmed, business owners can apply for the COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief Program by going to ksrevenue.gov.

Applicants with questions regarding the COVID-19 Retail Storefront Property Tax Relief Program can contact the Kansas Department of Revenue at 785-368-8660.

Small business owners have until April 15, 2023, to apply for this financial assistance.

Federal Funding Available for Several Kansas Counties

On September 29, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the release of Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) payments to certain counties. The LATCF provides a total of $1.5 billion to “eligible revenue sharing counties” under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The funding will be provided to eligible counties in two equal payments, one that will be distributed in FY2022 and the other in FY2023. The first payment is immediately available, while the second payment will be made sometime in 2023.

Treasury has already determined the amount of funding each eligible county will receive. The distribution formula reflects the original intent of the LATCF to support counties with federal lands within their jurisdiction. A total of 2,086 local governments, which includes approximately 50 counties in Kansas, are considered eligible revenue sharing counties under the LATCF formula. Click here to see the full list of eligible recipients.

Each eligible county must apply to claim the funding allocated to them. Treasury’s online portal provides application instructions and information on specific funding levels for each eligible county.

The deadline for counties to apply through the Treasury’s online portal is January 31, 2023, at 11:59 PM AKST. Should a county miss the application deadline, it will not be eligible for any LATCF payments.

For more information on eligibility of counties, eligible uses of funds and reporting requirements please visit the National Association of Counties website.

Updates to Services and Support

Register Now for Office of Recovery Office Hours Q&A Session

The Office of Recovery (RO) would like to share the following opportunity to receive support and technical assistance for the planning and spending of your ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Funds:

RO Office Hours Q&A Session

Join us on Wednesday, October 12, at 11 a.m. for an opportunity to ask the Office of Recovery questions about best practices, guidance from Treasury, upcoming deadlines, and other topics. These Q&A sessions are also an opportunity for local governments to share what they are doing and learn from one another.

You can join the session by registering here: Register for Q&A Session

Treasury Releases SFRF Guidance for Affordable Housing

On August 10th, the US Treasury hosted a webinar on recently released State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) guidance for housing production and preservation. Treasury provided an overview of guidance, which increases flexibility to use SLFRF to fully finance long-term affordable housing loans and expands presumptively eligible affordable housing uses to further maximize the availability of SLFRF funds for affordable housing. Check out the Affordable Housing How to Guide for more information on how to use these funds.

You can also review the SLFRF Affordable Housing Production & Preservation Presentation and the SLFRF Affordable Housing Production & Preservation Webinar.