Funding possibilities

Sixteen million dollars. That is a significant chunk of change, and it’s how much Pine Bluff will receive from the federal government through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program.

The funding was announced Monday night at the Pine Bluff City Council meeting. Half comes now, and another half will be transferred to the city in a year.

The city is wanting to better understand how the money can be spent. That’s a prudent step, since this is not just money raining down from the heavens, although it seems pretty close to that, considering how the spending of the money is described.

The United States Treasury Department, which is the agency delivering the funding, talks about the program on its website. What Pine Bluff will get is part of a $350 billion allotment going to state, local, territorial and tribal governments.

The money was allocated to “provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery,” states the Treasury’s website, which goes on to say that the funding is there to:

■ “Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control.”

■ “Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs.”

■ “Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses.”

■ “Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic.”

But there is a lot of leeway in how a governmental entity goes about doing those things. That’s the part where it gets exciting to think how Pine Bluff could best use the money, with the significant caveat that this is one-time cash, so it wouldn’t be prudent to attach it to employee pay, for instance.

Some of the “flexibility” the site refers to is that each entity can work to address its own local needs, “including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. These funds can also be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.”

Specifically, the site says recipients may use these funds to:

■ “Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff.”

■ “Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector.”

■ “Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.”

■ “Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors.”

■ “Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.”

And again, the site says that, to make all of that happen, “recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities.”

The amount of money coming to Pine Bluff is significant, to say the least. Because it is such an enormous sum, we suggest that Pine Bluff residents should be able to have input on how the money is spent. To that end, a series of public and/or online meetings could be held in which residents make their suggestions known. This would be the perfect opportunity to hear, and get buy-in, from the public on decisions that will affect everyone in this city for years to come. Something that important cries out for input and transparency from all involved.