VA. CITIES, COUNTIES TO GET RELIEF FUNDING

$644 million in federal aid for pandemic response

Cities and counties across Virginia are set to receive millions of dollars in federal funds thanks to the stimulus package Congress passed last month.

As part of the CARES Act, $150 billion was allocated to state, local, territorial and tribal governments across the country to cover expenses directly related to responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Virginia got about $3.1 billion and decided to give half to localities with fewer than 500,000 people. The only jurisdiction in the state with more residents, Fairfax County at 1.1 million, had to seek money from the feds separately and got about $200 million.

Localities will soon get a little less than half of what’s been set aside for them — about $644 million, split 132 ways. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said the money was allocated based on the locality’s proportion of the statewide population and should be hitting the local treasurers’ bank accounts around June 1. Aside from Fairfax County, that $644 million amounts to about $87 per resident.

“We wanted to make sure everybody got something,” Layne said.

Virginia Beach, with the largest population in Hampton Roads, will get the largest share in the region at $39.3 million. Aside from Accomack County, Virginia Beach has the most coronavirus cases in the region, with 591 reported by the state health department as of Friday.

The Hampton Roads area received a total of $143.7 million, or about 17% of the total allocated. The extra money comes at a time when localities are feeling the impact of revenue losses from the pandemic and finalizing their budgets. Many are voting to freeze or cut millions of dollars that otherwise would’ve been spent on things like raises and new positions.

And they can’t just use the federal money to make up for tax revenue lost due to the pandemic. Cities and counties can only use the CARES Act money for certain expenses. Specifically, they have to be:

Necessary, direct expenses incurred due to the public health emergency;

Not accounted for in their most recent budget;

Incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30.

The money can be used to cover the costs of establishing temporary me d i c a l facilities, providing COVID-19 testing, providing public telemedicine capabilities, obtaining medical supplies or personal protective equipment, performing contact tracing, and facilitating distance learning. It can also be spent on things like grants to small businesses and unemployment insurance.

Local officials had to certify by Friday that they would spend the money appropriately and keep a record of their spending. Unspent funds have to be returned to the state by Dec. 30. Layne said the other half of the money set aside for local governments could be allocated a different way — based on the number of positive coronavirus cases, for example — the next go round.

Staff writer Peter Coutu contributed to this report.