Kansas City to receive millions from Jackson County in relief funding

The city will be given $18.8 million to be used on unanticipated costs associated with COVID-19, money which Mayor Quinton Lucas says will be used to pay for PPE, testing and contact tracers for the Kansas City Health Department.

A request made by the city back in May for federal funding recently came to fruition, Jackson County allotting $18.8 million to Kansas City for the use of COVID-19 relief.

In May, Kansas City requested $54.5 million of the nearly $123 million Jackson County received from the federal government as part of the coronavirus relief bill to fight the virus, reports KMBC 9 News.

The request included $11.7 million in funding for contact testing and tracing for the Kansas City Health Department, but it was not approved.

In June, Jackson County Executive Frank White proposed distributing half of the federal funds to communities by population based on the most recent U.S. Census data, reports KMBC. That plan would have allocated $27 million to Kansas City.

At the end of June, the Jackson County Legislature approved the $18.8 million for Kansas City, given to be used on unanticipated costs associated with COVID-19.

“Kansas City’s ability to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, keep our economy moving and reopen our schools will be largely supplemented by the CARES Act funding we receive from each of our counties—particularly from Jackson. This funding will be used to pay for vital PPE, testing and contract tracers for our Health Department,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

“We’ll continue working with each of our counties to ensure Kansas City receives its portion of CARES Act funding, and with our Congressional delegation to ensure any future stimulus package includes direct aid to cities,” he added.

An ordinance allocating the Jackson County funds will be heard in Kansas City’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, reports KMBC. If passed, it will be heard by the full city council as soon as Thursday.