Local News

Montgomery County Seeking Input on Stimulus Dollars

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 09:00:47 CDT
Federal stimulus dollars are coming to Montgomery County and county officials are getting the public involved in determining how those dollars are spent. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has granted Montgomery County over $5 million. Montgomery County is hosting a series of roundtable meetings to collect ideas of potential projects throughout the county that could benefit from this money. The County will partner with other governmental bodies, non-profit organizations, civic groups and private industry to make a positive economic impact for years to come. The public is invited to join us at one of the Roundtable Discussions to help identify potential projects. Meetings will be held at the U of I Extension office in Hillsboro on Saturday, July 17 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, Tuesday, July 20 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm, Thursday, July 22 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm and

Saturday, July 24 from 9:00 - 11:00 am. To ensure enough seating, please RSVP to one meeting by emailing chrisd@montgomeryco.com or call 217-532-9577.

There are five primary ways that Recovery Funds can be spent:

1. Support public health response: Fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare and certain public health and safety staff.

2. Address negative economic impacts: Respond to economic harms to workers, families, small businesses, and nonprofits, or impacted industries and re-hiring of public sector workers.

3. Replace public sector revenue loss: Use funds to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.

4. Premium pay for essential workers: Offer additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure. Funds can be used retroactively back to January 27, 2020.

5. Water, sewer and broadband infrastructure: Make necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, invest in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and provide unserved or underserved locations with new or expanded broadband access.

The process for awarding funds will be explained at the Roundtable Discussion. Questions before the Roundtable Discussions, can be directed to Megan Beeler, Montgomery County Finance Chair at 217-246-0392 or megan.beeler@montgomeryco.com