Gettysburg's COVID-19 Financial Tourniquet En Route

Source:
Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS)
https://www.psats.org

Gettysburg's COVID-19 Financial Tourniquet En Route

$763,656 Federal Stimulus Dollars Coming to Gettysburg Borough

Yesterday, the U.S. House approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package which will now be sent to President Biden who has indicated he will sign the measure into law as soon as it reaches his desk. 

The package will provide $350 billion for state and local governments, with a total of $13.722 billion coming to Pennsylvania. The state will receive $7.5 billion (including $279 million set aside for capital projects), counties will receive $2.8 billion, and municipalities with populations of more than 50,000 will receive $2.3 billion. Municipalities in Pennsylvania with a population of less than 50,000, which includes almost all townships, boroughs, and small cities, will have to share $936 million (while Philadelphia alone will get in excess of $1.3 billion). 

View the attachemnt belw for specific allocations for each muicpality across the Commonwealth.

Note: This local funding will be distributed to the state and then released to local municpalities. 

State and local governments are able to use these restricted funds to cover costs incurred by Dec. 31, 2024, to: 

• Respond to the COVID-19 emergency and address its negative economic impacts, including through aid to households, small businesses, nonprofits, and industries such as tourism and hospitality; 
• Provide premium pay to essential employees or grants to their employers. Premium pay could not exceed $13 per hour or $25,000 per worker; 
• Provide government services affected by a revenue reduction during the pandemic (relative to revenues collected by the local government in the most recent full fiscal year prior to the emergency); and
• Make investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. 

Funds cannot be used to deposit into pension funds or to offset revenue resulting from a tax cut. 

State and local recipients are able to transfer funds to private nonprofit groups, public benefit corporations involved in passenger or cargo transportation, and special-purpose units of state or local governments. 

Additionally, the legislation includes $125 billion to help K-12 schools reopen for in-person classes; $48 billion for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing; $7.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine distribution efforts; $21.5 billion for rental assistance; $30 billion for local subway and bus systems and $8 billion for airports. 

Direct payments of $1400 will be sent to eligible households; individuals who make under $75,000 with eligibility phasing out at $80,000 and couples who earn less than $150,000 will get $2,800 with eligibility phasing out at $160,000. Weekly unemployment benefits of $300 per week are extended through Labor Day 2021.