Follow the Data Podcast: The Cost of Recovery for Our Cities, Part 2
The federal government is deploying billions of dollars in aid to cities in order to help them bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis. And while some city leaders may have previous experience in disaster management from facing oil spills or hurricanes, federal programs are changing to adapt to the pandemic – so navigating the process can be a bit of a shot in the dark.
That’s why we’ve teamed up with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to assist cities in accessing aid and documenting costs and ensuring proper use of the funds to support local response and recovery.
In the first episode of this two-part series we learned how cities can access federal aid for crisis relief and recovery. This week’s episode dives into how apart from securing and deploying aid, it’s particularly important for cities to maintain fiscal order so that they can maximize the funds and avoid any misuse and trouble down the road.
This week’s episode features Rose Gill, a Principal at Bloomberg Associates and Steven Kobre, Partner at Kobre + Kim. Together, they discuss the role of monitors in reviewing the use of federal funds, emerging cases that involve fraud, and share advice for city leaders managing COVID-19 federal aid on how to mitigate risks.
Additionally, Rose also spoke with Jerry DeLoach, who is the Head of the Cost Recovery team for the City of Atlanta to discuss how the city is responding to this crisis and at the same time is tracking expenditures to maximize federal reimbursements and recovery.
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