Union Township and the Borough of Jonestown were among 72 Pennsylvania municipalities receiving nearly $5 million total in the final batch of first-round payments under the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery program, it was announced Monday.
Overall, the state’s Treasury Department and the Department of Community and Economic Development reported, 2,445 qualifying municipalities in the commonwealth have received more than $489.7 million in federal funds over the past two-plus months. Twenty-four of those municipalities are in Lebanon County.
A second round of identical payments is scheduled to begin in May 2022, a release said.
According to an interactive map on the state Treasury’s website, Union Township was allocated $165,743.70 and Jonestown received $106,134.58, both on Aug. 31.
Their total disbursements, after the second batch next year, will be $331,487.40 and $212,269.16, respectively.
Payments from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery program can be used to mitigate negative economic impacts from to the pandemic, replace lost public sector revenue, support public health, help essential workers, and invest in such infrastructure improvements as water, sewer or broadband services.
Union Township manager Brent McFeaters wrote in an email to LebTown that “we are looking to use a majority of the funds for stormwater/culvert upgrades.”
As for Jonestown, Mayor Joe Quairoli said the borough has not finalized plans for the money.
“We have discussed various items but want to ensure it is in compliance with the terms of the allocation,” he told LebTown in an email.
Under the American Rescue Plan Act, states are responsible for distributing these funds to municipalities with fewer than 50,000 residents. Counties and larger municipalities applied to the U.S. Treasury under the program.
Lebanon County received about $27.5 million and the City of Lebanon in excess of $16.6 million from the federal Treasury. Even though Lebanon’s population is less than 50,000, it is considered a metropolitan city.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development established the application process for smaller municipalities, like Jonestown and Union Township, and reviewed their applications. The approved submissions were provided to the state Treasury, which allocated the money on a weekly basis, starting in July.
The other 22 Lebanon County municipalities that received funding include six boroughs and 16 townships.
Alphabetically, the boroughs (and their total share) are Cleona ($232,260.98), Cornwall ($458,032.48), Mount Gretna ($21,875.66), Myerstown ($340,279.60), Palmyra ($794,125.32) and Richland ($168,726.78).
The townships are Annville ($529,207.54), Bethel ($554,432.82), East Hanover ($310,972.22), Heidelberg ($454,369.04), Jackson ($942,650.92), Millcreek ($438,354.66), North Annville ($263,975.76), North Cornwall ($830,026.86), North Lebanon ($1,275,499.02), North Londonderry ($899,945.88), South Annville ($317,252.38), South Lebanon ($1,050,250.88), South Londonderry ($891,363.02), Swatara ($505,238.28), West Cornwall ($216,455.94) and West Lebanon ($87,398.80).
“The nearly $500 million that has been distributed over the past 10 weeks will help communities respond to the challenges they’re facing” due to the pandemic, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity said in the release. “Municipalities have a great deal of flexibility in how to use these funds, and Treasury’s goal was to issue payments promptly so that municipalities can decide how to best meet their local needs.”
Read More:
- Federal relief payments made to 17 Lebanon County municipalities
- Richland Borough receives coronavirus recovery funds (update)
- Mount Gretna Borough, West Cornwall Twp. get coronavirus recovery funds (update)
- Jackson and Annville townships the latest to receive coronavirus recovery funds (update)
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