News Flash

The City Council is soliciting input from city residents on how the city should spend $55.1 million it is scheduled to receive to help the city recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and will hold an online public input session at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, via Zoom.

Citizens who wish to speak at the April 28 meeting will find a link to the meeting at CityofWS.org/ccvirtual. The link will be posted closer to the meeting date but will not be active until 3 p.m. April 28, an hour before the meeting starts. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each and will speak in the order in which they sign in to the meeting starting at 3 p.m.

The council is also accepting input using a form posted at CityofWS.org/PublicInput.

The $55.1 million is coming from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. Money for the fund was included in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that Congress passed in March. The money will be delivered in two batches: half by May 11 this year, and the other half a year later.

The Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund is designed to give cities flexibility in responding to the health emergency and in funding projects, programs or organizations that were economically impacted by the pandemic.

This includes restoring local government revenue lost due to the pandemic, and government services affected by the loss of revenue. The money may also be used to provide grants to small businesses, non-profits, households, tourism, hospitality and the arts to make up for the economic impact caused by COVID-19. Some improvements to water, sewer and broadband infrastructure and programs may not have to be COVID-19 related to be eligible for funding.

In addition, the act stipulates that the money cannot be used to reduce the tax rate, cannot be used to delay new taxes or tax increases, and cannot be deposited in pension funds.

More information about the relief fund, and other pandemic-relief programs that businesses and individuals may be eligible to apply for directly to the federal government, is posted at CityofWS.org/PublicInput.