Essex County passes $600,000 in stimulus on to its towns

ELIZABETHTOWN | Essex County will distribute $600,000 of its allotted federal stimulus money among its 18 small towns, to help even out some financial inequities in the American Recovery Act. The county received $7 million in funding, which is to be used for initiatives that will help local governments bounce back from the pandemic. Essex County Manager Dan Palmer said the county is still assessing how this funding will be used, depending in part on federal clarification of what is a permitted use and what's not. The towns got their share of stimulus as well, but it was based on population, meaning that a tiny town such as North Hudson received only $11,000, an amount that doesn't go very far when considering public works. "It makes it difficult to do any project," Palmer said. "A mile of sewer pipe costs the same in North Hudson as it does in North Elba." The county also rewarded vaccinated employees who have stayed with the county through the course of the pandemic with a $2,000 bonus. Wilmington Supervisor Roy Holzer said town workers have been under similar stresses, so some boards may want to do something for their employees. Not all supervisors felt it necessary to equate payments with vaccines. "To me, it's a form of bribery," said Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava. Half of the $600,000 payments will be divided equally among the county's 18 towns, or $16,667 to each. The other $300,000 will be divided on the basis of population — from $2,321 for North Hudson to $50,756 for North Elba. The payment structure "will give the smaller towns a little more bank for the buck," Palmer said. The American Recovery Act provided $350 billion to state and local governments to help them make up ground they lost to the pandemic. There is a prescribed list of eligible uses for the money, but local officials have said the guidelines are not entirely clear — and if the money is misspent it has to be returned.

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Essex County passes $600,000 in stimulus on to its towns

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