In a time of austerity, cities in Monterey County are about to get millions in American Rescue Plan funds.

On March 11, President Joe Biden Signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, including $1,400 stimulus checks, vaccine aid, anti-poverty funds, and $300 of additional unemployment benefits.

Besides aid that goes directly to individuals, states, counties and cities will also receive aid to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. They will receive 50 percent of their allocation within 60 days from the Treasury Department once they submit a certification of need, and the other half a year later. California is set to receive over $26 billion and Monterey County will receive $84 million.

“It’s a windfall,” Salinas City Manager Steve Carrigan says. “Nobody dreams of this happening.”

To get federal aid directly, cities must have a population of at least 50,000; Salinas is the only such city in Monterey County. They can also receive federal funds directly if they are entitlement cities under the Community Development Block Grant program, which applies to Monterey and Seaside; Monterey County's 11 other cities will receive funds from the state.

Based on population, Salinas is set to receive $51.5 million. (The city is facing $14 million in lost revenue because of the Covid-19 slowdown.)

Assistant City Manager Jim Pia says he expects Salinas will get the first half of ARP funds by June. Pia was one of 19,000 city workers across the country who attended a webinar on March 16 to learn more about the funding, which comes with minimal restrictions. “We’ve got to make sure we spend it on all the appropriate things that the legislation was meant to have,” Pia says. He notes an urgent need to address homelessness, which has increased during the pandemic.

The funds can be used for loss of revenue due to Covid-19; costs of the public health emergency; to pay a premium or hazard pay for essential workers; to invest in residents, nonprofits or businesses impacted by Covid-19; or infrastructure like broadband, sewer or water. The money can’t be used for pensions or to compensate for tax cuts. It also includes a time limit: it has to be spent by Dec. 31, 2024.

Monterey County’s other smaller cities will also see significant, if smaller, sums. Seaside will get $8.4 million, equivalent to roughly a quarter of the city’s annual budget.

The city of Monterey will get $6.5 million; although officials are pleased with the relief funds, they will only make up for about 19 percent of its projected $34 million revenue loss due to the pandemic, according to Assistant Manager Nat Rojanasathira.

Carmel City Administrator Chip Rerig says the small city will use its $717,337 in ARP funds to mitigate pandemic revenue loss. (He estimates Carmel’s losses will be $3 million.)

Other Monterey County cities are set to get the following amounts, based on population: Soledad, $4.9 million; Marina, $4.3 million; Greenfield, $3.3 million; King City, $2.7 million; Gonzales, $1.6 million; Del Rey Oaks, $311,329.

Sand City will get the smallest sum, $75,103. City Manager Aaron Blair says he’d been thinking of recommending it for infrastructure but they might have to invest it in other areas: “With such a small amount of money, that’s not going to go very far in infrastructure projects.”

For Monterey County, “$84 million is significant,” says Wendy Root Askew, chair of the Board of Supervisors. She hopes to spend it on public health infrastructure: “These are one-time funds, but we can invest in a way we benefit over the longer term.”