Input Needed, Delivery Fee Cap Passes, PPP Forgiveness Application Questions
Monday, November 23, 2020
The Illinois Restaurant Association continues to engage with local, state, and federal officials to help our employers and employees address concerns about COVID-19. Please see the below resources and information for your business - updated as of 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 23. *** City of Chicago Passes Third Party Delivery Fee Cap Ordinance Earlier today, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance 49-0 that places a 15% cap on all third party delivery fees. The ordinance takes effect immediately. The IRA commends the Chicago City Council and Mayor Lightfoot for their support, and we thank our members that have been so engaged on this crucial initiative to protect Chicago's restaurants. The ordinance includes the following caps on fees: It shall be unlawful for a Third-Party Food Delivery Service to charge a Food Dispensing Establishment any combination of fees, commissions, or costs for the Food Dispensing Establishment’s use of the Third-Party Food Delivery Service that is greater than 15% of the Food Dispensing Establishment’s monthly net sales processed through the Third-Party Delivery Service. The term “fees, commissions, or costs” includes Delivery Fees.
The ordinance will be repealed when indoor dining is allowed at 40% or greater capacity in the city of Chicago for 60 consecutive days. Click here to read the final ordinance. Read more: Operator Input Needed - Coronavirus Impact Survey The IRA has partnered with the National Restaurant Association to gather critical data that will be very valuable to our ongoing advocacy and communications efforts during this crisis. If you haven't already done so, please take two minutes to help us quantify and further illustrate the economic impact that the coronavirus is having on your restaurant. Click here to complete the survey. Please note this survey will stay open until COB Monday, Nov. 30. Final Day to Apply for Chicago Hospitality Grants Applications for the Chicago Hospitality Grant Program close tonight, Monday, November 23 at 11:59 p.m. The program is a $10 million grant program for Chicago’s restaurants and bars that continue to face significant challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis. The program is administered with the support of World Business Chicago and Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana and will provide businesses with grants of $10,000 each. Citywide recipients will be selected via lottery, with a portion reserved for businesses in low- and moderate-income Community Areas. To be eligible, bars or restaurants must be located in Chicago, have no more than $3 million in annual revenues and have experienced at least a 25% revenue loss due to COVID-19. Click here to learn more and apply. IRA Committee Sign Up for 2021 Looking to get more involved in the IRA? Serving on an IRA committee is an excellent way to actively contribute to year-round events, advocacy, training programs, and membership efforts of the Association. We're looking for volunteers for the Chef's Table, Education, Golf Classic, Government Relations, and Membership Committees in 2021. Click here to sign up. PPP Forgiveness Application - State Order Questions The National Restaurant Law Center has provided the below guidance related to answering questions on Form 3509 for PPP loan forgiveness. As you may already know, each for-profit borrower that, together with its affiliates, received PPP loans with an original principal amount of $2 million or greater is required to complete and submit Form 3509: The Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness Application. The form must be submitted to the lender servicing borrower’s PPP loan within ten business days of receiving the request from the lender. There are a couple of questions that cannot be answered succinctly or accurately within the space provided and attaching supporting documents to address those questions would lead to large attachments, particularly for operators in multiple states. The Restaurant Law Center has attempted to provide an easy solution to address two of those questions, and sub-questions, as suggested below. The two issues we are trying to address include questions number 2 and 3, in particular, the request to: In question “2.,” provide a list of any state or local authority that issued a “shutdown order” since March 13, 2020, followed by the start and end dates for each order; and, In question “3.,” provide a list of any state or local authority that, since March 13, 2020, “ordered [restaurants] to significantly alter its operations,” such as service restricted to outdoors or indoor capacity restrictions, followed by the start and end dates for each order.
Clearly, because the restrictions by state and locality have been numerous and always changing since March 13, 2020, it would be a long—and time consuming—list for each of you to put together and report back this information accurately in Form 3509. Thus, we have created a site where we are placing all of the Restaurant Law Center’s “Official Orders Closing or Restricting Foodservice Establishments in Response to COVID-19,” which later became the “Official Return to Work State Guidelines for Foodservice Establishments.” The documents contains the information requested, as it was known to the industry at time of each publication. The idea is for you to be able to answer questions 2 and 3 by referring the lender to the site for a full listing of state and local orders by date either shutting down or significantly altering operations. Click here to review the link for inclusion in your PPP forgiveness application. Services for Vulnerable Communities Available Through Illinois Access to Justice Illinois Access to Justice seeks to provide legal representation, resources, and education for those in vulnerable communities dealing with the devastating consequences of incarceration and family separation. Visit ILAccessToJustice.com for assistance.
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