Despite restrictions, city spends most federal pandemic aid

March 9, 2022 | Peter Currier
pcurrier@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD – As the two-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, communities still grapple with how to spend much of the federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to municipalities across the country to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.

Like many cities, Westfield has received millions of dollars from the federal government, and is still slated to receive millions more. City Purchasing Director Tammy Tefft said that Westfield has received $8,651,285.50 so far, and is still in line to receive $8,537,440.50 this year from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). ARPA was the third of three major bills passed by Congress for economic relief, and the second to give funds directly to municipalities.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was the first of the three bills, and provided communities with funds that could be spent on a very narrow set of criteria. Westfield was approved to spend $3.6 million in CARES Act funds, and has received $1.5 million so far, according to Tefft. Because the criteria were so narrow in how the funds could be spent, the state denied some requests by the city on how to spend the funds.

Of the $1.5 million that has been received from CARES, $1.4 million has been spent. Tefft said that the remaining $100,000 is going to be returned to the state. The $1.4 million was spent mostly on the immediate city response to the pandemic. That included support for remote learning for the city’s schools, personal protective equipment, and funds to adapt the 2020 elections to pandemic requirements.

Some CARES Act funds took the form of Community Development Block Grants for local businesses. Since the passage of the CARES Act in 2020, Westfield businesses have received $223,384.66 in block grant funds.

ARPA had a more broad set of permissions for how the funds could be spent. In Westfield, Tefft said that the $8.6 million so far has been obligated mostly to water and sewer projects throughout the city. Those include some wastewater plant projects, sewer and water infrastructure extensions, wastewater pump station repairs, the City View culvert project, waterline projects like those being done around Meadow Street, roadway projects for older downtown streets, and airport water projects.

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