PEARL, Miss. (MEMA) – In August, Governor Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency launched the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Program. Through the Mississippi Legislature, MEMA was allocated $70 million of CARES Act money to reimburse county and municipal governments for COVID-19 expenses.
To be reimbursed through the COVID-19 Relief Program, the county/municipality must have their application and specific project (what type of expense they’re being reimbursed for) approved by MEMA. Currently, we have approved 112 applications and are in the process of validating those applicants’ project requests. To date, MEMA has approved nine county projects and two city projects, totaling nearly $3 million. Those include: DeSoto, Hancock (two approved projects), Harrison (two approved projects), Lafayette (three approved projects), and Pike counties, plus, Starkville and Vicksburg. To see which counties and municipalities have applied for COVID-19 Relief Funds, click here.
For local governments to receive those approved funds, each must sign an agreement with the state to certify their projects meet CARES Act criteria. Once received, MEMA will release those funds.
“There are millions of dollars sitting there waiting to be distributed; we need those local governments to act with haste given the rapidly approaching October 15th deadline. Many cities and counties have taken a hard hit financially because of COVID-19. While this isn’t a fix-all, every little bit of money put back into our local economies can help remove a small burden off taxpayers,” says MEMA Executive Director Greg Michel.
MEMA is urging local and county governments to apply for these CARES Act funds before the deadline, October 15. According to Senate Bill 3047, monies must be obligated by November 30 or will be returned to Governor Reeves.
###