Raleigh – Following the passage of the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act, Rep. Kevin Corbin announced Monday that Graham County will be receiving $387,338 to cover immediate expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ninenty-seven of North Carolina’s counties will receive funding through the act, which established a $300 million Local Government Coronavirus Reserve. Half of the reserve is being directly distributed to counties.
“We were successful in negotiating a formula that favored rural counties,” Corbin said. “It gave a base amount for all counties and then a per capita. With a flat base amount, this formula is especially good for rural counties like ours.”
Counties that did not receive funds from the federal CARES Act are eligible for a base payment of $250,000 with additional money allocated based on per capita population.
The money can only be use to offset coronavirus-related costs including, but not limited to:
* Establishing temporary medical facilities
* Testing
* Disinfecting public areas
* Public safety measures
* Distributing protective supplies
Counties can allocate portions of the funds to municipalities for those expenses.
The funding is part of a nearly $1.6 billion COVID-19 relief package that was unanimously approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper last week.
The overall bill provides significant new resources across the state, to support hospitals, research, testing, small businesses, school nutrition and much more.