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Stories and information in our region on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Audit: Long Island Should Have Gotten Another $300 Million In Federal COVID Relief

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New York’s Comptroller says federal coronavirus relief funding missed the mark and ended up shortchanging the communities hard hit by the virus — and Long Island should have got another $300 million dollars.

In his report, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli looked at how much money Congress gave local governments across the country. Then he looked at how much those communities spent on the virus. Most governments barely spent 25% of what they were given. Nassau County spent all of it. Same with New York City. Suffolk County spent three-quarters of it.

Also, how local governments spent the money was different. In New York, it went mostly to health care because there were sick people. Other places, like El Paso, Colorado, put the money to other government functions. Montgomery, Ohio, gave most of the federal tax dollars to businesses and residents.

Charles is senior reporter focusing on special projects. He has won numerous awards including an IRE award, three SPJ Public Service Awards, and a National Murrow. He was also a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists and Third Coast Director’s Choice Award.