New Brunswick Receives Surprise $768,861 In CARES Act Funding

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — New Brunswick is one of many municipalities across New Jersey that will walk away with an unexpected chunk of federal funding thanks to the CARES Act, signed into law by President Trump in March in response to the coronavirus economic downturn.

New Brunswick will receive $768,861 in CARES Act funding, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ6) announced last week. Pallone represents New Jersey’s Sixth Congressional District, which includes New Brunswick.

Middlesex County will receive $2.6 million, and Monmouth County will receive $4 million.

Other nearby towns that received unexpected CARES Act funding include Middletown ($403,433), Asbury Park ($292,337), Edison ($884,324), Long Branch ($374,654), Woodbridge ($805,562), Perth Amboy ($583,908) and Sayreville ($356,218), all towns Pallone represents in Washington.

“The funding is through the community block development program, so the towns have a lot of leeway in how they use the money,” said a spokeswoman for Pallone. “Usually the money is used for affordable housing, public services, or infrastructure, but it’s up to the towns to decide. Since this allocation is through the CARES Act, the funding is meant to be spent on preventing, preparing for and responding to the pandemic.”

“We have yet to receive official notification advising the Township of the grant,” said Woodbridge town spokesman John Hagerty. “Once we get word, I will be in a better position to announce how we will allocate the funds.”

Tony Mercantante, Middletown’s business administrator, said this was the first he’d heard of Middletown receiving the funding. A spokesperson for Long Branch said the same.

The funding is allocated through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Community Development Block Grant Program.

Congress has so far passed three aid packages in response to coronavirus, spending $2.58 trillion total on COVID. The CARES Act alone was $1.8 trillion, the largest stimulus package in U.S. history.

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Middlesex County did not respond when Patch asked how the money would be spent.

Monmouth County did respond, and said will likely use it to help small businesses located there. This new $4 million for Monmouth County is in addition to the $1.5 million in federal CARES Act money Monmouth County already received earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on the New Brunswick Patch