Inside 208

Governor Whitmer has signed Executive Order 2020-38 which relaxes requirements for responding to FOIA requests made by mail or fax during the COVID-19 emergency. This action will protect workers who handle FOIA requests by allowing public bodies to defer portions of requests that would require workers to report to work [...]

Following the lead of our partners at the National League of Cities, MML staff have been reaching out to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and members of Michigan's congressional delegation requesting flexibility as Treasury develops guidance on "necessary expenditures" related to the authorized use of Coronavirus Relief Funds within the recently passed...

The Bureau of Elections released the following information last night for local units of government to request reimbursements for their costs related to the March Presidential Primary election.  The Governor recently signed Senate Bill 151, a supplemental appropriation that included $14 million to cover the costs of the March election. ...

In response to Michigan Municipal League webinars (here and here) on communities conducting remote-access meetings, several of our members have decided to use the Zoom platform. We wanted to share some information regarding the "zoombombing" that's been happening. Zoombombing is when someone (who may or may not be a resident...

(Click here to fill out the survey) As our communities take steps to address issues that have rose due to the coronavirus there are likely unexpected costs and budget impacts. Though our advocacy work at the State and Federal level the Michigan Municipal League has been diligent in our efforts [...]

The Michigan Department of Treasury sent the following reminder yesterday to local units of government that may need to request filing extensions for any upcoming F-65 audit or other fiscal year-end filing requirements… The Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act (Public Act 2 of 1968 ) and the Revised Municipal Finance [...]

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Rural Development will be offering historically low interest rates for infrastructure projects starting in April.  This includes everything from water and sewer projects to emergency vehicles and critical infrastructure like municipal halls and fire stations. Visit their website at www.rd.usda.gov/mi to find out about all...

By Executive Order 2020-27, Gov. Whitmer will be temporarily suspending the rules and procedures relating to the May 5, 2020 elections so that these elections may be conducted by absent voter ballot to the greatest extent possible. Rules and procedures relating to the withdrawal of ballot proposals from the May [...]

Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-28 requiring the reconnection of service to residences that have had water service shut off. The order requires public water suppliers to immediately identify residences in their service area that do not currently have water service, and to make best efforts to restore service to [...]

The Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment has provided the below guidance for businesses providing waste management activities on behalf of local communities. Waste and materials management activities are deemed essential and necessary activities.  These activities return needed raw materials to the supply chain with materials necessary to support...