State to send $119M in fed funds to towns and cities for recovery programs

Courtesy / MAINE JOBS & RECOVERY PLAN Gov. Janet Mills yesterday unveiled a fiscal recovery program to distribute $119.2 million in federal funding to local governments across Maine.

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By Staff

Federal funds will be heading to towns and cities to support economic recovery priorities, such as addressing the economic or public health impacts of the pandemic, replacing lost public sector revenue, or investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday unveiled a fiscal recovery program to distribute $119.2 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to local governments across Maine.

The state received $59.6 million from the U.S. Treasury for immediate distribution, with a second tranche of equal value expected in approximately one year and to be distributed at that time, according to a news release.

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services unveiled an online portal through which Maine municipalities can request the funding. Click here to access the portal.

In anticipation of the distribution, municipal officials from across the state have been meeting with other local, county and state leaders to explore opportunities for investing the money, Catherine Conlow, executive director of Maine Municipal Association, said in the release.

“With the right partnerships in place, municipalities will be able to invest these one-time funds strategically towards community goals with projects that increase the affordable housing stock, address the impacts of climate change, improve infrastructure, and expand access to broadband,” Conlow continued. “Investments that will benefit the residents of Maine for decades.”

U. S. Treasury guidelines provide municipalities only 60 days to apply for the revenue. The Maine Municipal Association is urging communities to start the process sooner rather than later, said James Gardner Jr., MMA president and Easton town manager.

“Maine towns and cities will have these crucial funds in hand quickly so they can be put to use immediately on behalf of local residents,” said Kirsten Figueroa, commissioner for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

Figueroa said the online application portal aims to streamline disbursement and accounting and to keep the process as simple as possible.

The money will be issued to local governments based upon their relative share of the nonentitlement unit population, not to exceed the amount equal to 75% of the most recent municipal budget as of Jan. 27, 2020.

The program is part of a more than $4.5 billion federal investment in Maine from the American Rescue Plan Act, which also includes stimulus payments to Maine families, recovery efforts like bolstering public health including COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, broadband infrastructure, and direct payments to Maine’s county governments and so-called “entitlement” cities.

The remaining approximately $1 billion in ARPA funding to Maine will be used to deploy the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, the state's investment into priorities such as child care, workforce housing, clean drinking water, workforce development, energy efficiency and heritage industries.