Local leaders are simmering over the bypassing of Sussex and Warren counties from more than $82 million of federal money allocated to New Jersey last week as part of the first round of funding released under the recently passed $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, saying the explanation that it was due to a predetermined "formula" is unacceptable.

The omission, coming as numerous Sussex County businesses trying to avert layoffs have also run into obstacles applying for economic relief, prompted state Sen. Steve Oroho and Assembly members Parker Space and Hal Wirths, all R-24th Dist., to request an explanation from federal lawmakers.

"Our families and businesses in Sussex and Warren counties are suffering just as much as anyone in New Jersey," the legislators said in a joint statement. "It’s very concerning, and frankly unacceptable, that the communities we represent were overlooked in the first round of federal funding. We urge New Jersey’s congressional delegation to find out why we were left out and ensure that our constituents’ needs are being treated equally."

Two other counties in the state, Hunterdon and Salem, also were omitted from the first round of stimulus funding, which included a combination of community block grants and emergency assistance for various public infrastructure, housing and anti-homelessness programs.

Bergen County, which has emerged as the epicenter of New Jersey's coronavirus crisis, received $8.3 million, more than any other county in the state, according to an announcement of the awards put out last Friday by Democratic U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez. Although Sussex and Warren counties significantly trail Bergen County in the percentage of those infected, local leaders note that the impact here has still been significant.

Sussex County Freeholder Director Sylvia Petillo, in a statement, said "If the events of this (past) weekend are any sign of the challenges the county must endure in the future, it begs the question, 'How many other roadblocks will be placed in our way preventing rural communities like Sussex County from receiving their fair allocation of the coronavirus stimulus bill?'"

"Every county in our state has been affected by this extraordinary health crisis and every county should have received a direct grant," Petillo said. "A formula that favors 17 counties and ignores the needs of the other four is unacceptable."

In response to the concerns, Congresspeople Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., and Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist., both said that the money announced last week was part of a specific allocation within the coronavirus stimulus bill that represents a small share of overall funding coming the region's way.

Included in the overall funding, they said, will be minimum direct payments of $1,200 for individuals plus an additional $500 per child for most lower and middle-income earners. The funding also provides enhanced jobless benefits that will keep most unemployed people at 100% of their salary for 13 weeks, plus small business debt relief and incentives to keep workers on the payroll. Also included will be money for local and state efforts to combat the coronavirus and money for much-needed medical supplies and personal protective equipment for hospitals and first responders.

Gottheimer, who sent out a letter over the weekend seeking to reassure local mayors that help is on the way, reiterated the point in a statement Wednesday to the New Jersey Herald. "The bipartisan CARES Act rescue and relief package, which passed the House and President Trump signed into law last week, includes significant federal dollars and resources for residents and businesses in Warren and Sussex Counties. Both Sussex and Warren qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in direct relief and support for residents and businesses — including dollars that are literally going out the door this week," Gottheimer said.

Gottheimer, in a joint letter with state Sen. Steve Oroho, R-24th Dist., has nonetheless appealed to Gov. Phil Murphy to allocate additional discretionary funds received by the state from the federal stimulus bill to rural communities impacted by COVID-19. "We believe Sussex and Warren Counties meet that requirement and ask that you please immediately allocate the discretionary funding to these localities," they wrote.

Gottheimer has since called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a third federally funded drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in New Jersey for Sussex and Warren counties to supplement the two that opened recently in Bergen and Monmouth counties.

However, with the supply of test kits still unable to meet the demand and with other more populated regions of the state also clamoring for test sites, it is unclear what the chances are of a FEMA site opening in Sussex or Warren counties anytime soon. Against this backdrop, Gottheimer said he is attempting to secure funding for communities such as Warren County that have set up their own test sites or that are in the process of doing so.

Sherrill, in a statement, indicated she, too, has joined a bipartisan effort urging the governor as well as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to ensure smaller counties and municipalities receive a fair share of coronavirus relief money and that the population threshold for approving such money be lowered if necessary. "Every community in our state has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and I will continue to fight to ensure that all our municipalities have the resources they need to not only fight the virus, but to make themselves whole after we get to the other side of this," Sherrill said.

But Republican Freeholder Herb Yardley, a former county health officer who led the Sussex County Health Department before retiring from that job a few years ago, questioned if politics might have played a part in how the initial funds were allocated, noting that the four counties that were bypassed are all in "Republican areas."

Yardley also criticized the formula used to determine the allocation as a "pre-pandemic, Obama-era formula." The formula, which actually dates back to the Ford and Carter administrations and is still in use by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, prioritizes funding for counties with more than 500,000 people and cities of more than 50,000 people. Yardley's concerns were echoed by Petillo, who questioned the decision to release the first round of stimulus funding through HUD, a decision that she said made it virtually impossible for Sussex County to qualify based on the traditional formulas used by HUD.

In a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the White House's coronavirus task force, Yardley appealed to the vice president to ensure Sussex County receives its fair share of help.

"Four of New Jersey's 21 counties received no aid. Not a penny. Together those four counties have as many COVID-19 cases/deaths as New Mexico, and more than 12 entire states," wrote Yardley.

In his letter, Yardley also noted that 70% of Sussex County residents work outside the county, some of whom commute to jobs in New York City. "New York City is the epicenter of this world pandemic. ... We are a hard-hit New York City commuter county. Our rural county is just as vulnerable to the devastation of this virus, and time is of the essence," Yardley said.

Eric Obernauer can also be contacted on Twitter: @EricObernNJH or by phone at 973-383-1213.