Launch of the Working Capital Advance program to displace municipal reconstruction projects – News is My Business

Revisions to disaster recovery financial management guidelines have given way to the working capital advance pilot program, through which the government can advance up to $375 million to municipalities so they can forward with their reconstruction projects.

During a press conference, Governor Pedro Pierluisi and the Executive Director of the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3), Manuel Laboy, gave details of the program that was established taking into account that many municipalities lack the money to start their projects, something they say, “is essential for the reconstruction to continue moving forward”.

Municipalities that apply and qualify under the pilot program requirements will receive 25% of the money committed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the project they select. With these funds – which will be disbursed within seven to ten working days – municipalities can begin permanent works that have stalled.

“This initiative will be vital for thousands of projects to begin execution without delay,” Laboy said.

Once municipalities receive the funds, they must submit a project progress report within 90 days. Some 1,700 municipal projects could be eligible and represent $1.5 billion of FEMA’s committed funds.

“Continued progress in rebuilding and renovating our infrastructure is essential for us to have the modern and resilient foundation on which we build Puerto Rico’s future economic development,” said Pierluisi.

COR3 will make changes to Chapter 7 of the Disaster Recovery Financial Management Guidelines in June, when the agency will host training workshops.

The changes to the reimbursement and funding advance policies respond to an announcement made in September 2021 relating to the removal of the 2019 Agreement, which allows for a more flexible process for validating project disbursement requests for all sub-projects. recipients.

“As part of the adjustments and in response to a request from the mayors, the discount for the payment of insurance to the municipalities will be made as the project progresses and the money will not be deducted all at once. “, said Laboy.

“These are just some of the changes we will make to provide subrecipients with greater liquidity, without risking compliance with state and federal laws,” he said.

This story was written by our staff based on a press release.