On its surface the math may seem wonky: Just seven percent of the county’s population is getting 27 percent in COVID-19 recovery funds. But that’s how Montgomery County is leaning toward allocating its federal investment. A deeper dive, however, reveals a sensible thought process behind it, reports Evan Brandt for The Times Herald.

The county received $161.4 million from Washington to alleviate COVID-19 setbacks.

Ideas on how to spend that bounty were solicited by various means (town halls, online surveys), yielding 426 suggestions. They were then winnowed based on public feedback.

The federal windfall came with the incentive to spend it in “qualified Census tracts,” low-income and poverty-stricken areas.

For the county, that translates to $41 million for Norristown and Pottstown, the area’s neediest pockets.

Norristown’s injection will fund projects that include:

• A new community center and expansion of an existing one
• Two food-security projects
• Disability access at a school

Pottstown is being provided resources for:

• A leadership, health, and education equity initiative
• A new homeless shelter
• Street medicine outreach and other wellness initiatives
• Senior mental health improvement
• A student mentorship program

Several countywide projects are extensive enough to benefit the county as a whole, including Norristown and Pottstown. These include initiatives on the creation of business improvement districts and anti-gun violence measures.

The final say on all this is up to the Montgomery County Commissioners, who will vote on it Aug.18.

More on Montco’s intentions for COVID recovery funds is at The Times Herald.