The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes $130 billion in COVID relief for local governments, and some details about how that breaks down are starting to come out.
Tulsa County District 1 Chief Deputy Commissioner Mike Craddock said during a Thursday River Parks Authority meeting they expect $127 million.
"That’s the good news. The bad news, we have absolutely no idea what we can do with it right now. We have ideas, but until guidance comes out, we couldn’t tell you if we could give it all to River Parks, give it all to ourselves, give it all to some nonprofit," Craddock said.
Craddock said his understanding is cities will get their own allocations, but reiterated he hasn’t seen any guidance for using the funds yet.
"So, we don’t know the interplay of our funds and the other municipalities. Can we give money to other municipalities? We have no idea," Craddock said.
Tulsa County's $127 million is close to the amount estimated in a U.S. House committee report, which estimated around $88 million for the City of Tulsa. A spokesperson for Mayor G.T. Bynum could not provide information Thursday on expected funding.
President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law last week.
County Commission Chairman Stan Sallee will lead Tulsa County’s distribution of American Rescue Plan funds. The county received more than $113 million last year from the relief package known as the CARES Act.
