Hundreds of small Midwestern towns passed on federal COVID money rather than fight red tape

[Sherman A1]

The question caught Mark Gentert off guard. Had the village of Holstein, Nebraska, gotten its COVID relief money from the federal government yet? What COVID relief money? After all, it’s a town of just 200 people.

“So I contacted my clerk and she said she hadn’t gotten the paperwork in and we lost our shot at it,” said Gentert, who was Holstein’s chairman at the time. “And I’m like ‘Oh, really?’”

The town had missed out on a little over $42,000.

It’s a problem many small towns ran into when the federal government offered almost $20 billion to small communities for pandemic recovery. With tiny populations and limited resources, many towns found the money to be more of a headache than a lifeline and decided to not pursue the funds.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2022-02-15/hundreds-of-small-midwestern-towns-passed-on-federal-covid-money-rather-than-fight-red-tape

[Emile]

1. Probably not a bad thing. This area would have pocketed the money

and used it to pad their pockets. Sorta looks Florida.

[ret5hd]

2. You may be right, but...

what were they paid to do?

“Elect/hire me!”
“OK, there ya’ go. Do your job good now.”
“It’s too hard. I’m just gonna sit here. Oh, and collect my check.”