Update on August 6, 2021:
A&F has advised that the first half of CLFRF County Government payments will be dispersed to towns within nonfunctional county governments during the week of August 9th, 2021. As per ARPA statute, the second half of these CLFRF County Government payments will be dispersed one year from now.
Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CLFRF)
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocated funding to states, counties, and municipalities to cover costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Details and resources outlining the ARP funding can be found here.
ARP funding is allocated in three pieces: directly to municipalities/cities, to county governments, and to states directly. Massachusetts has been allocated $3.4 billion total in aid to municipalities and counties.
Direct Municipal Payments
Massachusetts municipalities have been allocated $2 billion in direct municipal aid. The municipal portion of each municipality’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CLFRF) allocation will be dispersed in two payments, with 50% allocated in the first payment and 50% allocated in the second payment.
The first payment of CLFRF municipal allocations were paid out to municipalities in June 2021. Belmont and Watertown received this first allocation from the Commonwealth, while the City of Boston received this first allocation directly from the US Treasury.
The second wave of CLFRF municipal allocations will be dispersed in early summer 2022 to each municipality. This will be the same amount as the first CLFRF allocation.
County Government Payments
County governments have been allocated $1.3 billion in aid in Massachusetts, which will be allocated to cities and towns based on town population.
Within Massachusetts, eight county governments, including Middlesex and Suffolk counties, have been abolished. As a result, ARP funding for these counties have been sent to the state to distribute based on the municipalities’ percentage of the total county population.
According to the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance (A&F), the state is awaiting guidance from the US Treasury regarding technical guidance for the re-allocation in municipalities within abolished counties. Once this technical guidance is given, A&F will be able to quickly allocate funding to municipalities within the eight counties with abolished county governments.
Belmont and Watertown are part of the Middlesex County, while Boston is part of Suffolk County. Both Middlesex and Suffolk counties have abolished county governments. As a result, Belmont, Watertown, and Boston have not yet received their county portion of CLFRF funding.
Update on August 6, 2021:
A&F has advised that the first half of CLFRF County Government payments will be dispersed to towns within nonfunctional county governments during the week of August 9th, 2021. As per ARPA statute, the second half of these CLFRF County Government payments will be dispersed one year from now.
Total Town Allocation of CLFRF Funding
| Town | Belmont | Watertown | Boston |
| Municipal Allocation* | $2,733,524* | $3,761,683* | $424,179,607* |
| County Allocation** | $5,072,727** | $6,980,729** | $134,529,431** |
| Total CLFRF Allocation to Town | $7,806,251 | $10,742,413 | $558,709,038 |
*1/2 of this amount has been allocated to municipalities in June 2021, while the second half will be allocated by June 2022.
**1/2 of this amount will be allocated to municipalities by A&F on the week of August 9, 2021, while the second half will be allocated by August 2022.
A complete list of local aid amounts for all Massachusetts municipalities can be found here.
Other COVID-19 Federal Aid Available to Towns
A complete list of program descriptions and funding allocated per town can be accessed here.
COVID-Related Federal Revenue Available to Municipalities
| Federal Funds as of 7/5/21 | Belmont | Watertown | Boston |
| CvRF | $2,321,456 | $3,169,982 | $120,853,359 |
| Shared Streets Program | $367,172 | $358,248 | |
| Community Development Block Grant | $215,217 | $20,039,341 | |
| Emergency Solutions Grant | $28,543,879 | ||
| Assistance to Firefighters Grant | $397,057 | ||
| Justice Assistance Grants | $1,297,757 | ||
| Election Security Grants | $5,226 | $62,082 | $4,924 |
| Obligated FEMA Applications | $161,820 | $5,838,490 | |
| HOPWA | $449,562 | ||
| Total Municipal Allocation | $10,249,753 | $14,499,708 | $736,548,814 |
A complete list of funding for all towns and description of programming can be found here.
Update on August 6, 2021:
All municipal funding listed above has been paid out to municipalities as of August 6, 2021.
COVID-Related Federal Revenue Available to Local Education Agencies (LEAs)
| Town | Belmont | Watertown | Boston |
| CvRF School Reopening Grants | $1,043,100 | $601,200 | |
| Remote Learning Technology Essentials | $33,953 | $672,342 | |
| ESSER I | $127,474 | $340,013 | $32,345,848 |
| ESSER II | $456,006 | $1,239,158 | $122,967,457 |
| ESSER III | $1,001,654 | $2,866,910 | $276,144,978 |
| Total LEA Allocation | $2,628,299 | $5,081,234 | $432,130,625 |
A complete list of funding for all towns can be found here.
Update on August 6th:
All LEA allocations listed above have been paid out to municipalities as of August 6, 2021.
Will any of these funds pay families who lost people who had* to go into work. *Will any of these monies be used to examine in depth who really needed to be at work and the equity of the lifting of the stay at home measures?