Macomb County is set to receive $152 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to be used only for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CARES Act funding is available for local governments with populations of more than 500,000. The state of Michigan will receive $3 billion. Macomb, Wayne, Oakland and Kent counties and the city of Detroit will split $800 million.
Officials aren't happy with the restrictions being placed on these funds.
Kurt Weiss, Michigan state budget office spokesman
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Michigan, like many states, will have a budget shortfall this year and next year due to the pandemic. According to Kurt Weiss, state budget office spokesman, the state budget could go backward $3 billion this fiscal year and $4 billion next fiscal year unless things change at the federal level.
"Like every state in the nation right now, it’s difficult to project or predict the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our state revenues and the subsequent impact to the state budget," Weiss told Macomb Daily. "We know there will be an impact. What we don’t know is how large it will be."
According to Macomb Daily, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants more flexibility in how local governments are able to use these funds. Such as being able to cover revenue losses due to COVID-19 or other supplementing other budget areas as the pandemic progresses.
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