Townships want clarification on new federal aid

A group of Washington lawmakers representing Ohio want clarification from the U.S. Treasury on whether townships will be eligible for new federal COVID-19 relief funds. A letter sent Wednesday to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was signed by 10 members of Congress including Sen. Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, as well as Reps. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Rocky River; Jim Jordan, R-Urbana; and Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville. The group asked for a clear-cut answer regarding township eligibility for aid under the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act after those allocations were included in both large relief packages put forth last year. Lawmakers pointed to uncertainty that's stemmed from certain passages in the new legislation. "It has come to our attention that Ohio's townships face great uncertainty in funding through this legislation, which impacts their ability to plan to provide critical services to their citizens," the letter stated. "Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan provided $360 billion in coronavirus recovery funds for states, local governments, territories and Tribal governments. However, the definition of a 'non-entitlement unit of local government' calls into question whether Ohio's townships are eligible for this funding." Medina County Commissioner Steve Hambley said he and other officials still are waiting for a clearer picture of what local fund distribution will look like. Last year's federal allocations led to local initiatives such as small-business grants set up by the commissioners and multiple local utility assistance programs. "Congressman Anthony Gonzalez was in Monday doing a walk-around in Medina," Hambley said. "He had kind of informed us about these different pots of money. The U.S. Treasury Department seems to be the ones writing the rules and regulation of how the money is going to be spent, based on language of the bill that was passed without any Republican votes. "I guess it remains to be seen what kind of flexibility we'll have around here. Hopefully, it's more and not less." York Township Trustee Bill Pavlick said he'd heard questions about townships being included. "I know that money really helped us last year," he said. "We used it to put in the new heating and cooling units that are supposed to be better at catching the viruses and anything going through the air. I wish we could put some of the money into our roads, which have gotten beaten up with more emergency traffic." States including the District of Columbia have been allocated $219.8 billion as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. Cities and counties have been made eligible for just over $130 billion. Another $45.57 billion is slated for cities with populations of more than 50,000. Cities below that total are still in line for additional funds but those will reportedly be determined by population, according to analysis of the bill from Florida-based law firm Akerman LLP. Counties and cities have until the end of 2024 to spend the money. U.S. territories and tribal governments will be given $20 billion, but specific mention of townships does seem to be absent. "We have roads coming up on 17 or 18 years that need to be worked on," Pavlick said. "Our local funds get taken away for 10 years and now we might not be part of this? I don't know why that would be. We're lucky to pave a mile of road a year these days. That's just gotten harder since the start of last year." Half the funds for counties and all cities will be distributed initially while the remainder will be available a year after that first distribution. For smaller cities, payments cannot exceed 75 percent of a city's annual budget as of Jan. 27, 2020, according to Akerman. Sharon Township Trustee Kimberly Bolas Miller pointed to added costs taken on through providing emergency response assistance to communities that are eligible for new funds. "Townships are an integral part of local government and the local community," she said. "Our biggest tap into expenses has definitely been fire and EMS. There's been a lot of times where we've been around to provide help and mutual aid just like all the other townships." "It's been hard to keep people, too," Bolas Miller added in regards to emergency workers. "People are working two jobs a lot of the time and they've been under a lot of stress. I think we've planned relatively well as a township but, yes, we should be a part of this and getting help in the bill, too." Federal aid can be used for COVID-19-related assistance to households, small businesses, nonprofits and impacted industries including hospitality, travel and tourism. Allocations can also be made for water, sewer and infrastructure improvements as well as coverage for lost municipal revenue while providing certain services. A $10 billion Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund has been established with reported aims of rural broadband infrastructure improvements. Funds cannot be used to cover pension shortfalls or revenue loss that's determined to stem from a tax cut. Roughly $50 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding will be used to reimburse local governments for costs associated with protective equipment, vaccine distribution and sanitizing of public areas. Plans also call for about $25 billion in rental and utility assistance, $10 billion for mortgage assistance and $4.75 billion for homeless assistance. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.