Municipalities around the area have been impacted financially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Monmouth City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher states the City of Monmouth and other communities were struggling before the pandemic appeared:
“Particularly here in Illinois with the police and fire pensions, I had never in my career as a municipal manager had to watch the checking account to make sure we can make payroll every two weeks. I have had to do that the three years that I have been here. Managing cash flow and making sure we have enough money to pay the employees on payday was difficult and that was before the stay at home order that shut down all of the commercial businesses that generate the tax revenues that we need,” Steinbrecher reports.
Steinbrecher was recently a part of a conference call with Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and surrounding Mayor’s discussing that the next COVID-19 relief bill will have a focus on financial assistance to state and local governments.
