News
Big Money Coming To Ohio And Cities, Counties In Latest COVID Relief Package
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Along with individual stimulus checks and more help for the unemployed, there’s a lot of money headed to Ohio and its cities and counties once the latest $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill is signed into law.
There’s a total of $11.2 billion for Ohio in the bill called the American Rescue Plan – half of it going to the state, with $2.2 billion each going to major cities and to all 88 counties.
The Statehouse News Bureau reviewed an analysis by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Of that $2.2 billion for counties, here are the top five allocations:
- Franklin County: $255,38,000
- Cuyahoga County: $239,530,000
- Hamilton County: $158,540,000
- Summit County: $104,930,000
- Montgomery County: $103,120,000
930 Ohio cities and villages will get money in this package too.
Among major cities, Cleveland gets the most, $541,410,000 – almost a half a billion dollars. That averages out to $1,400 per resident based on the most recent Census figures available. That’s the eighth largest allocation among all major U.S. cities.
Cincinnati could get $291,590,000, or around $967 per person. Columbus would get $185,960,000, but because it’s by far the largest city by population, its take comes out to $211 per resident.
The money can be used for COVID-related expenses like vaccines and public health, small business relief, support for low-income people and schools.
The plan, backed by Democrats and the Biden administration, passed Wednesday afternoon.
Ohio’s budget director has credited previous COVID relief as “essentially serv[ing] as a second rainy day fund for us,” and has suggested that may make draining the state’s rainy-day fund unnecessary.