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CNMI’s own $500 stimulus checks may be out in July
$10M to $15M ARPA fund will be allocated to help pay utilities of residential accounts
The Department of Finance is preparing to release by next month the CNMI’s own stimulus package in the amount of $500 per taxpayer using American Rescue Plan Act funds.
That’s according to Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig, who said Monday that they are looking at 41,000 taxpayers who will benefit. That’s a total of around $22 million in stimulus payments.
Atalig said Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has allocated over $31 million in ARPA funding for this purpose, which the CNMI government is calling “local stimulus.”
“The goal is to have that program by the end of July, giving each taxpayer at least $500 that they can spend to help their families as they go through the pandemic,” he said.
In addition, the government is also planning to help pay for the utility bills of all residential accounts to help residents with the high cost of utilities, Atalig disclosed. He said $10 million to $15 million will be divided equally among all residential accounts, but commercial or government accounts are not included. Atalig did not specify when they are going to release the utility payments.
The secretary said they may allocate more than $31 million, as the total payments for both stimulus and utility reaches about $37 million.
