Community Corner

Here is Jefferson's Share Of The American Rescue Plan Money

More than $144,027,548 is coming to Morris County and municipal governments. Here is where it is being distributed.

JEFFERSON, NJ -The American Rescue Plan will send more than $10 billion to the state and local governments within New Jersey. The $1.9 trillion COVID relief package contains $360 billion in state and local aid to help keep essential workers on the job, assist struggling families and small businesses, and make critical investments in infrastructure.

The state government will receive approximately $6.434 billion plus another $189 million to expand broadband internet across the state. An additional $1.823 billion will be split among the 21 county governments and $1.741 billion divided among all 565 cities and municipalities.

"Our state and local governments have been on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19," said Senator Bob Menendez. "They have been bleeding resources for over a year while costs have soared and revenues have plummeted. As a result, they have borne the brunt of the economic pain and desperately need help."

Find out what's happening in Jeffersonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Jefferson Township is scheduled for $2,034,978.50. The direct, flexible funding can be used by state and local governments to pay COVID-related expenses; cover lost revenues due to the pandemic to maintain critical services and avoid layoffs of essential workers; provide additional assistance to residents and small businesses; and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

While the SMART Act initially called for $500 billion in targeted state and local funding to the areas with the greatest need, Menendez was instrumental in fighting efforts to further lower that top line number or change the formula to hurt New Jersey, which has been disproportionately impacted economically by the pandemic.

Find out what's happening in Jeffersonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

As a result of the final formula, New Jersey will receive the eighth largest pot of federal money compared to other states, about $1 billion more than it would receive had the formula been based entirely on population. The formula allocates virtually all of the funding dedicated to state governments based on the number of unemployed persons in each state compared to the overall U.S. population to determine need.

“In the midst of the greatest public health and economic crises of our lifetimes, it is unacceptable New Jersey schools, hospitals, small businesses, and workers faced the additional threat of budgetary shortfalls,” said Booker. “With state and local governments across our country facing the painful decisions of potentially laying off thousands of police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other essential workers, and cutting essential services, the full support of our federal government has never been more important to fight this pandemic."

Individual Stimulus Fund

Now about that $1,400. Checks of up to $1,400 will go to individuals making $80,000 or less, single parents earning up to $120,000 and couples with household income of less than $160,000.
According to CNET, checks sent to direct deposit accounts could start going out the week of March 17. Paper checks could start being mailed the following week.

United Way of Northern New Jersey, a local nonprofit, can help area residents from low- to moderate-income household claim their coronavirus stimulus payments.
United Way and its partners created a secure online portal, accessible at https://uwnnj.org/freetaxprep, to ensure these households could receive free, IRS-certified tax preparation and filing services for the 2020 filing season. This year, the service includes assistance in claiming eligibility for coronavirus-related stimulus checks.
Those who were eligible for but did not receive their federally approved stimulus checks approved last year can claim them on their 2020 return through the Internal Revenue Service's Recovery Rebate Credit.

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