East Palo Alto To Receive Over $7M In COVID Recovery Funding

By Astrid Casimire, Bay City News Foundation

EAST PALO ALTO, CA — The city of East Palo Alto will receive about $7 million in federal funding to aid with COVID-19 recovery efforts.

The City Council authorized the city manager to accept the funds at Tuesday's council meeting.

Funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the economic stimulus plan approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in March. The city is expected to receive about $7,012,532, which is $1.5 million more than previous estimates, according to a staff report. The award amount is based on population size.

Funds may be used to cover costs related to COVID-19 response or recovery, such as helping households, small businesses, nonprofits or industries that were negatively impacted by the pandemic.

The award may also be used to pay eligible essential workers, for government services to help replace lost revenue or to invest in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.

Under the American Rescue Plan Act, the U.S. Department of the Treasury will distribute money to states, counties, metropolitan cities and small cities with less than 50,000 people.

California received $1.2 billion to distribute to small cities or towns like East Palo Alto, which has a population of about 30,000, according to census data.

The city will receive one payment at the end of June and one in June 2022.

Funding may only be used to cover costs incurred between March 3, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2024.

Elsewhere in San Mateo County, the cities of Daly City, Redwood City, San Mateo and South San Francisco are expected to receive direct funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. San Mateo County will also receive almost $150 million in funding.

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