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Jackson County allocates remainder of CARES Act funding

Of the nearly $122.7 million in CARES Act money the county received, the Jackson County Legislature has finished allocation of the remaining funds. A breakdown of how it will be spent was released Monday, just two weeks before the Dec. 30 spending deadline.

With a little more than two weeks to spare, the Jackson County Legislature has finished allocating the last of the nearly $122.7 million it received in CARES Act money.

The county offered a final breakdown Monday of the allocations, which had to be expended by Dec. 30 or returned to the U.S. Department of the Treasury based on federal guidelines.

Truman Medical Centers/University Health received $32.4 million to help treat COVID-19 patients and equip clinics, hospitals and staff to handle the pandemic.

More than $40 million was distributed to cities and towns in Jackson County for a variety of municipal programs to combat COVID-19 and the collateral damage the pandemic has caused. That includes money for emergency workers and things like utility assistance programs.

KCMO also received $1 million for a grant program to help households impacted by job loss and small businesses hurt by emergency orders.

The Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri, health departments received a combined $24.9 million for testing, contact tracing and staffing. Community health centers — including Swope Health Services, KC CARE and Samuel U. Rodgers — received $5.6 million.

Public schools in Jackson County received $5 million to help enhance networks delivering remote learning and ramp up COVID-19 testing.

Congress passed the CARES Act in late March and Jackson County received its appropriation in May from the state.

More than $150 billion was allocated to states for non-budgeted expenses that arose due to the public health emergency.