Cities and counties throughout South Carolina will receive nearly $1.6 billion in direct financial aid from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Biden administration’s landmark coronavirus relief plan, after President Joe Biden signed the bill into law March 11.
As the most populous county in the state, Greenville County will receive an estimated $101.5 million, while the city of Greenville will get about $19.7 million. Unlike previous rounds of federal funding, the relief plan allows more flexibility in how the money is spent.
Each county will receive money based on population, a change from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed last March, in which Greenville was the only county in South Carolina with a population large enough to qualify to receive its own share of funds. Greenville County received $91 million in CARES funds and distributed nearly all of it by the end of 2020. No cities in the state received dedicated funding in the CARES Act.
All municipalities will receive funds based on population through the latest financial relief measure, though funding will come from two separate buckets of money with some geared toward metropolitan cities and others toward towns and smaller cities.
In all, South Carolina counties stand to receive nearly $1 billion in aid. South Carolina towns and cities will receive $587.06 million.
Under the American Rescue Plan, counties will receive half of their allocation in the next 60 days and the rest of it within a year.
Broadly defined, according to analysis by National Association of Counties and National League of Cities, the money can be used to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its economic impacts. That could include further assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, or for aid to industries impacted by the pandemic like hospitality, tourism or travel.
Counties and cities may also choose to use funds to offer extra pay for essential county workers, up to $13 an hour extra capped at $25,000. That could include premium pay for police officers, sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical services employees. Counties could also provide grants to companies with employees who perform essential duties to provide the extra pay.
Cities and counties can also use the funds to offset their own financial losses from the pandemic, including unpaid property taxes or lower hospitality and accommodations revenues from the last fiscal year.
Finally, they can also choose to spend the funds on necessary infrastructure projects such as water, sewer or broadband internet.
The aid to cities and counties is part of $350 billion total in the $1.9 trillion relief package that marked the first major legislative effort of the Biden administration.
The bill turned into a partisan affair and Republicans attacked the $350 billion in aid to states, tribal organizations and local governments as a “blue state bailout” to make up for deficits from Democratic-run states that overall took more drastic measures to shut down their economies and suffered financially during the pandemic. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said the funding formula would "bias the money toward big blue states."
Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, said the bill spent too much money on “extraneous Democrat priorities that will not help our recovery efforts. It is the wrong bill, at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons.” Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Anderson, said the bill’s $350 billion would bail out “blue states that poorly managed their budgets.”
The funds, though, will go to red and blue states alike, and in South Carolina, millions will flow into Upstate towns, cities and counties with largely conservative elected officials.
Officials are just learning some of the details for the unprecedented federal allocation to local governments across the country.
In the weeks ahead, Greenville County will evaluate its needs and will formulate a plan among staff and County Council for how best to use the money, said Bob Mihalic, Greenville County spokesman. While the county acted much like a granting organization for much of the CARES Act spending, this money will be sent directly to the county for its officials to determine its use, he said.
The city of Greenville is working on a usage plan that focuses on restoring lost revenue needed to provide essential services, said Beth Brotherton, the city’s spokeswoman.
Counties and cities have until December 31, 2024 to spend the money.
The U.S. Treasury Department will release official amounts and will be tasked with distributing the money across the country.
In Greenville County, in addition to the city of Greenville, the following cities will receive a shared total of $36.9 million based on estimates from the National League of Cities: Greer, $12.46 million; Mauldin, $9.49 million; Simpsonville, $9.05 million; Fountain Inn, $3.9 million; Travelers Rest, $2 million.
