The Town of Warren is set to receive $1.04 million in stimulus funds as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, but it will take some time before the funds arrive and officials know what they'll be allowed to do with it.

On Thursday, Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud said she is still awaiting guidance from the federal government on what the money — exactly $1,042,254 — can be spent on, and she does not yet know when it will arrive. But she and her staff have been talking about possible uses, from replacing revenue lost to the Covid-19 pandemic to increasing affordable development here and possibly expanding the access to Broadband Internet service across town.

"We don't know yet," she said. "We don't have a whole lot of information at the moment."

One of the most obvious uses, she said, is replacing town revenue lost as businesses struggled and Warren gave business owners breaks on their license fees. Last year, "we just ate that" drop in revenue, she said. But if replacing lost revenue so taxes wouldn't have to be raised to make up for the loss is a real possibility, she said.

Another is affordable housing. For years, the town has had an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, from which funds can be drawn to help improve properties that are deed-restriced as affordable.

Though that trust fund is theoretically a great tool, she said it has never been funded or used. If regulations allow for such a use, endowing the trust fund with some of the federal dollars could go a long way in helping the town achieve its goals of increasing affordable opportunities for Warren residents and those who wish to move to town.

"It could be used to fund repairs to existing affordable properties," as well as to entice property owners into deed-restricting their properties as affordable, she said.

"Our goal is to create and preserve affordable housing," she said. "The fund could be very useful."

Though many of the potential allowed uses are vague at this point, Ms. Michaud said guidance has been clear in that if any of it is used to fund repairs or improvements to the town's infrastructure, it can only be used for water services, sewer infrastructure or increasing access to broadband Internet technology.

Over the past year, as more and more residents tele-commuted and town officials began holding online Zoom-based meetings, it became clear how poor Warren's Internet access is, she said. However, state-controlled fiber optic cables run through Warren, and "it would be great to connect to that" and provide connectivity options for residents, as well as free wifi hotspots, around town.

Regardless of what becomes of the funds, money released under the act cannot be used to create tax cuts, and cannot support any town's pension system.