The City of Danville is about to receive a big boost from the federal government.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. says that he was informed by a liaison from Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s office this week that the city will be receiving $23 million as a direct allocation from the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus that President Joe Biden signed into law last week.
The mayor says that he hasn’t received any guidance yet on how to spend the money, but he says there are some things the city cannot pay down such as pensions and reducing taxes. He says the money will be a huge help for the city.
“Even though our city is doing well overall, as you guys know, there are certainly things like hotel/motel tax and others that our revenues are way down compared to what they normally are,” Williams says.
About half of the money is expected to come by May, or around $11 million. Williams says the city’s funding amount was determined by its share of the Community Development Block Grant.
The mayor said some possible options for the money could be salaries for public safety employees or water, sewer and broadband projects.
