POLITICS

Federal COVID relief funding begins flowing to small communities as a handful still work to apply

Hope Karnopp
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Town of York hopes that they will be able to use their nearly $100,000 allocation toward roadwork, but are still waiting for more guidance from the Treasury Department.

MADISON - Hundreds of small municipalities across Wisconsin are beginning to receive millions in funding from the American Rescue Plan, but a handful still need to file to receive the aid. 

The state Department of Revenue distributed $203 million — the first half of funding — to 1,780 municipalities on June 25. The second half of funding will go out in 2022.

In total, local governments in Wisconsin are set to receive about $2.3 billion. Counties and larger communities receive their aid directly from the federal government, but municipalities with populations under 50,000 must access their aid through the state Department of Revenue.

The state Department of Revenue is helping 24 communities that are still working on applying for the funding. Those communities are set to receive between about $4,400 and $224,200. 

The Department of Revenue reminded hundreds of municipalities that they needed to file in the days leading up to the June 18 deadline.

Like 23 other states, Wisconsin has received a 30-day extension from the U.S. Department of Treasury to allow for the remaining municipalities to work through issues and file for the aid.

Some municipalities need to hold board meetings to obtain approval or are waiting to receive an identification number from the federal government that tracks how federal money is distributed.

Governments can use the funding in a variety of ways, including COVID-19 mitigation efforts, addressing negative economic impacts caused by the pandemic, making up for lost revenue, providing premium pay to essential workers and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

Some municipalities said they are considering how to use their funding as they work through their budget process.

Related:Wisconsin rural broadband getting $100 million boost from federal program

The Town of York, a rural, hilly community southwest of Madison with fewer than 1,000 residents, is waiting for more specific guidance on how they can use the funding. The township hopes to use its $98,000 allocation toward roadwork if they meet requirements set by the Treasury Department.

"There's not a lot of industry down here, people didn't lose their employment, they didn't lose a lot of income from manufacturing. What we really need this funding for is for our roads, to keep our roads up and keep them safe," the town's clerk-treasurer, Jessie Schlumpf, said. "As far as we're concerned, it's our only infrastructure."

Schlumpf said the guidelines seem vague right now, but the Treasury plans to provide more guidance and instructions when it issues its final rule. She added that the town has "plenty" of time to decide how to use the funds. According to Treasury, the funds are meant to provide relief over a "broader timeline" than the CARES Act.

Milwaukee has proposed prioritizing lead remediation with the city's $394.2 million allocation and hopes to receive more federal funding from the White House's infrastructure plan. 

The Town of Campbell in La Crosse County, which has dealt with PFAS contamination, plans to use some of its $450,000 allocation to pay a contractor to assess the feasibility of installing a municipal water system. But the town says that won't be enough to install the system and hopes Gov. Tony Evers will use some of the state's American Rescue Plan allocation to address PFAS further. 

Evers has also committed to using part of the state's federal funding toward upgrading the state's unemployment system and expanding broadband grants.