Town leaders mull how to use forthcoming $250M in COVID-19 relief

Households, small businesses and non profits, municipal essential workers among those who can benefit

The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill President Joe Biden signed Thursday, the American Rescue Plan, will deliver an estimated $250 million to local governments in eastern Connecticut.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said cities and towns in the Second Congressional District are expected to receive more than $109 million in baseline funding, which has already been allocated.

There is also an additional $142 million that would normally go to county governments but will be assigned instead to individual municipalities here, based on a formula linked to population, because there are no county governments.

Courtney’s office on Friday released the already estimated allocation for the $109 million.

In southeastern Connecticut, that includes: East Lyme, $1.8 million; Groton, $3.8 million; Ledyard, $1.4 million; Lyme, $228,665; Montville, $1.8 million; New London, $21.8 million; North Stonington, $513,016; Norwich, $21.5 million; Old Lyme, $721,342; Preston, $456,640; Salem, $403,126; Stonington, $1.8 million; and Waterford, $1.9 million.

The Treasury Department has 60 days to get the first half out, and the second half will be released in a year, Courtney said.

So, how can — and how will — cities and towns spend this money?

According to Courtney’s office, allowable uses of the funding include:

assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits; premium pay to municipal essential workers and investments in broadband and water and sewer infrastructure. It cannot be used to fund pensions or lower taxes.

Courtney convened a group of five municipal leaders who shared some initial thoughts in a Zoom call Friday morning.

Montville Mayor Ron McDaniel said the town could use the money to offset overtime expenses for custodians and hopefully move forward with ventilation projects at the senior center and town hall.

“Providing this financial assistance right now, in this moment, is exactly what we needed on every level of government,” New London Mayor Michael Passero said.

Citing dramatic increases in calls about mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence, Stonington First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough said the town is talking about how human services can use some of the money.

Coventry First Selectman John Elsesser said the town’s recreation department was unable to run summer camp and after-school programs due to COVID-19, which he called “important for normalizing life for working parents.” He also said police overtime was over budget due to COVID-19, and Courtney noted that police and firefighters have been helping manage vaccination efforts.

Colchester First Selectwoman Mary Bylone said she had to give up some things in the budget last year, and the funding will help the town get back to where it was before the pandemic.

‘To me, it seems this is aggressive enough’

Courtney and Passero said the American Rescue Plan, which all Republicans in the House and Senate opposed, has garnered bipartisan support from municipal leaders.

Earlier this month, a Pew Research Center survey found 70% favorability of the $1.9 trillion package among respondents — 41% among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and 94% among Democrats. A survey conducted for CNN found 61% overall support it, including 26% of Republicans.

A Morning Consult/Politico survey found that an equal share of Republican respondents — 35% — thought the bill offers the right amount of support as those who thought it offered too much.

“This bill does not distinguish between blue towns and red towns, or blue states and red states. The formulas are very much universal,” Courtney said.

The Day reached out to other mayors, first selectmen and town managers to hear their thoughts.

East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson said he has no plans yet, but intends to have discussions with various boards in town. He would personally like to see at least half the money go toward health and human services, and wondered if some could support Niantic Main Street for businesses that have suffered.

“There’s a lot to learn about this, and I’m going to take my cues from other first selectmen and mayors and other leaders at the (Southeastern Connecticut) Council of Governments and see what everyone’s doing,” Nickerson said. He expects hard direction in the coming days and said Courtney’s office “does a fabulous job” of getting information to COG members.

While expressing some concern about non-COVID-related aspects of the bill, Nickerson said it “is going to stimulate an economy that’s probably going to need some stimulation.”

Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said his overall reaction to the American Rescue Plan “is we needed additional help, that’s clear,” but he wants to know how much money from previous relief bills hasn’t been spent.

He said the pandemic has brought additional costs to Norwich Public Utilities and to police, and he noted the HVAC and heating system needs to be replaced at Stanton Elementary.

Groton Town Manager John Burt said the town has “fared fairly well” through the pandemic budget wise, with reimbursements coming along the way. But he’s excited about the possibility of using funds to help people at risk of being foreclosed on or evicted, and to help businesses.

North Stonington First Selectman Mike Urgo said he was “really excited that cities and towns were able to benefit from the package.” He pointed to emergency services as a possible recipient, saying he wants to make sure the fire company and ambulance have enough staffing.

“Back when we had the financial collapse in 2008, we weren’t aggressive enough to make sure we had a strong recovery. To me, it seems this is aggressive enough,” Urgo said.

Local governments have until the end of 2024 to spend the money, which Enfield Town Manager Chris Bromson said is important because he thinks there are long-term implications of the pandemic we haven’t thought of yet.

“We’ll wait and see what we get; we’ll see what the rules are,” he said. “I think people would be wise to go slowly so they could put it aside for some of the other implications.”

If permissible, Bromson would like to use the funding for infrastructure projects that would provide jobs and stimulate the local economy.