UC to receive almost $100 million in COVID-19 funds

By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ

NASHVILLE – Cities and counties in the Upper Cumberland region are set to receive almost $100 million from the latest federal COVID-19 relief package. As a state, Tennessee is projected to earn $2.27 billion from the plan.

Counties in the UC are set to receive $69,897,166 with cities getting a total of $29,476,848. In all, Tennessee’s 95 counties are in line to receive $1.324 billion with the cities getting a total of $944.49 million. 

Although receiving word that the funding is on its way, there’s a big caveat — the rules for how the money can be spent aren’t entirely clear.

As a result, state officials are warning local governments to be careful about how they plan to spend the money. 

And even then the answer for local allocations isn’t simple. 

The Federal Funds Information Service (FFIS) said the funding criteria for the biggest cities is based on Housing and Urban Development data while smaller towns and cities are based on census estimates from 2019. County totals are filtered through adjusted Community Development Block Grant data. 

While none of it is final, here’s how FFIS sees it breaking down for counties and cities:

And here are the projected city totals: