Cape city awaiting American Rescue Plan funds

The City of Cape Girardeau, according to the Missouri Municipal League, is expected to receive $7.47 million following the passage of the American Rescue Plan, also referred to as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, by the 117th Congress.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion ARP into law March 11 with the announced goal of speeding recovery from the economic and health effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The money has not been received yet. My understanding is we will get half of that money probably in the upcoming weeks via wire transfer," said city manager Scott Meyer on Monday, who added the "original guidance" received about the anticipated funding boils down to a handful of general areas.

Caution

Scott Meyer

Meyer said the city expects to receive guidance and restrictions from federal agencies and it's better to wait before making decisions on distribution of the funds.

"The problem with getting too far ahead of yourself is sometimes money gets spent, then (later) in the audit, they come back and say, 'No, you couldn't spend it for that,' and then you end up having to pay it back on the taxpayers' dollar, and we're careful not to do that," said Meyer, who will retire in June as the longest-tenured city manager in municipal history with 12 years of service.

Process

According to the National League of Cities (NLC), ARP funds are to be split between municipalities and counties, with the first of two installments to be received within 60 days of ARP becoming law and the remainder a year after the first payment.

For entities under 50,000 in population, a category including every local municipality in Southeast Missouri, cities and towns cannot receive a grant larger than an amount equal to 75% of their pre-pandemic annual budget.

According to the NLC, the rescue plan distribution may be transferred within jurisdictions or to not-for-profit partners.

The Missouri Budget Project (MBP) reported funds may be used in the following ways:

• Respond to the COVID pandemic or its resultant negative economic effects.
• Provide "premium pay" to essential public workers (up to a maximum of $13/hour or $25,000/worker.)
• Provide services (equivalent to the amount of revenue lost because of the pandemic.)
• Invest in improvements to water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.

The provisions of the plan will not expire until Dec. 31, 2024.

Other selected distributions

While every municipality and county will receive money, the following is an abbreviated list of government entities entitled to funding locally, according to MBP.

• Cape Girardeau County: $15,296,545
• Scott County: $7,424,170
• Perry County: $3,711,309
• Jackson: $2,732,608
• Perryville: $1,564,858
• Scott City: $822,950
• Chaffee: $533,776
• Advance: $246,075
• Oran: $223,788
• Kelso: $108,118
• Delta: $78,280
• Gordonville: $68,334
• Oak Ridge: $42,916
• Allenville: $22,471