MAC COVID-19 Update
Register to vote by Friday for NACo elections

At NACo’s virtual Annual Business Meeting on July 20 at 2 p.m. EDT, NACo members will elect our 2020-2021 officers, consider bylaws amendments, review our year of collective achievements and conduct other association business. Registration for the Annual Business Meeting is free to all NACo members.

More information about voting at the virtual Annual Business Meeting can be found here.


The deadline for members to submit voting credentials information is Friday, July 17 at noon EDT.
In order to vote, each county/parish/borough is required to:

  • Pay 2020 NACo membership dues, and 
  • Register a voting delegate by noon EDT on Friday, July 17, 2020. 
 
To facilitate the virtual voting process, we encourage each member county to authorize one voting delegate. Your voting delegate should be an individual who:

1) Registers and plans to attend the virtual meeting, and
2) Casts the vote(s).

Members can submit voting credentials information through the online registration process. There is no need to submit a paper form to NACo.

For authorized county voting delegates, individual registration is mandatory. The option to self-designate as voting delegate does not apply to group registration.

If you have already registered for the Annual Business Meeting but did not submit credentials information, you can click here to edit your registration record to complete the voting delegate process. (Cell phone numbers are required only for the purposes of administering voting during the Annual Business Meeting.)
If member counties do not complete the credentials process, their votes will not be counted in this year’s Annual Business Meeting. Non-registered counties are not considered credentialed.

Here is a list of frequently asked questions. For any additional voting credentials questions, please email to credentials@naco.org. 
NACo tech leader offers cybersecurity tips

Counties should shift their wed domains to the .gov one to gain the highest confidence for domain security, said Rita Reynolds, chief technology officer of the National Association of Counties, during the fifth Camp Counties webinar, on election cybersecurity, today .

The last webinar of MAC’s summer educational series reviewed the rapidly increasing demands on county digital resources and offered tips on how to manage technology, software and changes to staff culture driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of the recordings and presentations from the Camp series are available on the Camp Counties page of the MAC website .
Podcast 83 answers your questions on COVID aid

Millions of dollars are available to counties for reimbursements for public health and safety workers and it’s important to begin filing for aid quickly, MAC Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth said during the latest episode of Podcast 83 .

Bosworth and Executive Director Stephan Currie discussed the aid streams now available under Senate Bill 690, then took questions from viewers of the webinar taped on Monday.

Regarding $100 million in hazard pay for first responders, Bosworth said, “It’s available on a first come, first served basis, so those who apply first are more likely to get the money. … I don’t know how fast it will go.”

On hazard pay, a local unit can receive only a maximum of $5 million, regardless of the amount requested.
On payroll taxes associated with hazard pay, Bosworth said MAC has requested additional guidance on whether state aid will cover those costs to counties.

Bosworth noted that forms and other details can be found on the Michigan Treasury website.

A second sum, $200 million, is to help counties with public health and public safety payrolls. It will have two rounds of payments, with the first applications due by the end of this week (July 17).
If funds are left from round 1, Treasury will announce a round 2 in August.

“This can come overtime, normal leave, long-term leave, benefits … you can lump it together and apply for reimbursement,” Bosworth said. If available funds are not sufficient to claims, reimbursements will be prorated.

Podcast 83 is now sponsored by DTE Energy.

The state Treasury Department has developed a website with numbered letters, communications and resources regarding COVID-19 information for local governments and school districts. This website was created to ensure that Michigan communities have access to the most up-to-date guidance and will be updated frequently with information and resources as they become available.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org .
Upcoming events with MAC

  • Webinar on COVID Aid for Jails (July 23): Learn about options and details for gaining federal help to respond to COVID-19 in your jails during a digital Town Hall at 1:30 p.m. co-hosted by MAC, the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. To register for the event, click here.