Financial impact of the COVID-19 Protection Protocols is estimated at less than $5,000 for protection, cleaning and health monitoring supplies; some of the costs, such as improving the HVAC filtration system, are likely to be borne by the landlord.  The cost of the proposed supplies and equipment allowance is estimated at $7,500 ($500 per employee, 15 employees). These costs will be offset with several months of savings accrued during the current and expected continued shelter-in-place: Board meetings are not being recorded by an outside party and Board agendas have gone totally electronic, saving postage and printing costs; food is no longer being purchased for Board and committee meetings since they are all remote; and there is less utilization of office supplies due to employees working from home and increased use of electronic documents.

COVID-19 Protection Protocols
The health and safety of TAMC employees and visitors to its office is essential. While the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, shelter-in-place orders are being relaxed and plans need to be made to dictate how the Agency offices will reopen. A team of Agency staff has developed and the Executive Director has signed off on the attached protocol to ensure that the return to office is done in a safe and healthy manner. This protocol will be updated on a monthly basis by the Executive Director to reflect the status of the pandemic within the County. Board and Committee meetings are expected to remain remote, perhaps through the end of 2020.  In support of our Go831 trip reduction mission, staff will be encouraged to continue to work from home as much as possible.  

Supplies and Equipment Allowance
Efforts to contain COVID-19 have led to the Agency to change the normal working environment by requiring staff to work from home. While staff has been allowed to take office equipment home for their use, not all equipment is easy to transport or available.  The goal of this allowance is to support employee productivity, minimize injuries, and allow ongoing working from home even after the shelter-in-place requirements are relaxed.  When working away from the office, employees have identified the need for additional equipment to replicate what is available to them on a typical workday, such as laptops, monitors, printers, computer cameras for remote meetings, computer stands or ergonomic chairs. Also, office supplies such as printer cartridges, paper or notepads are needed to carry on work from an improvised home office. The proposed one-time supplies and equipment allowance is proposed for current staff at $500 per employee to cover reasonable and necessary home office expenses. Use of a one-time allowance is proposed since it will consume less staff time to administer than an invoice/reimbursement system, and will likely cost less than providing a suite of equipment to each staff person. This cost will be offset with savings from remote office operations, as noted under the Financial Impact section.