Ocean City, a Jersey Shore resort town in Cape May County, is receiving $169,196 in community development block grant funds, thanks to the $2 trillion stimulus law passed last month in response to the coronavirus crisis.

But Phillipsburg in Warren County, a blue-collar town that has 3,000 more people than Ocean City, isn’t getting any funding under this program out of Washington.

The towns are classified differently by the U.S. Census Bureau, and that determines whether they’re eligible for certain federal grants, like the $82 million quickly awarded to N.J. under the stimulus law.

Only metropolitan cities of at least 50,000 people, urban counties with at least 200,000 people or “principal cities” named by the U.S. Census Bureau in designated metropolitan statistical areas, were eligible to receive the money in this round of grants.

Ocean City received funding because the Census Bureau designates it a “principal city” in its MSA.

Phillipsburg is in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA and is not the principal city in that grouping. Allentown and Bethlehem have that designation.

The census designations also explain why Salem County was excluded. Salem County is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA. There, the principal cities are Philadelphia, Camden and Wilmington, Delaware. So Salem, with less than 63,000 people, isn’t getting any money directly either.

The recent allocations, though, account for only 1 percent of the estimated $5.8 billion in federal funding that the state will eventually see from the coronavirus stimulus bill.

“It’s a tiny part of the relief package that goes for a very specific purpose,” said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., whose district includes Phillipsburg.

“This is not the money helping small businesses in Phillipsburg, or the fire department in Clinton or the hospital in Flemington. This is a very specialized program that represents only a tiny part of the overall relief package,” he added.

For now, municipalities and counties not included must depend on the largesse of the state government. Out of the $82 million awarded to the state, counties and towns, N.J. itself received $15.7 million in the latest bill, and can send some of that money to counties and towns that didn’t receive direct grants.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., has asked Gov. Phil Murphy to do just that. The coronavirus is spreading to more rural counties such as Sussex and Warren, which have spent their own money to fight the virus and could use help from the state, he said.

“Given that this virus knows no borders and doesn’t see communities by the size they are or principle city or not, then we should ensure that all communities affected receive funding,” Gottheimer said.

Murphy aides did not respond to requests for comment.

Both Gottheimer and Malinowski have asked that future stimulus bills lower the federal thresholds so that in the future more towns and counties can get direct federal funding.

“These smaller counties, cities, and towns have faced enormous costs while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic," according to a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signed by more than 100 members of Congress, including both Gottheimer and Malinowski.

“We fear that, without targeted stabilization funding, smaller localities will be unable to continue providing these critical services to our constituents at the rate they are currently,” the letter added.

There are the counties and municipalities receiving aid in the first allocation, according to U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, D-N.J.:

The allocations, by state, county and municipality, are:

NEW JERSEY

State funds, $15,718,227

Department of Health, $144,507

ATLANTIC COUNTY

County funds, $704,535

Atlantic City. $786,810

BERGEN COUNTY

County funds, $8,310,445

BURLINGTON COUNTY

County funds, $876,226

CAMDEN COUNTY

County funds, $2,186,348

Camden: $2,377,511

Cherry Hill: $273,538

Gloucester Township: $180,120

CAPE MAY COUNTY

Ocean City, $169,196

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Bridgeton, $197,626

Millville, $156,171

Vineland, $292,725

ESSEX COUNTY

County funds, $4,792,503

Bloomfield, $615,251

East Orange, $866,434

Irvington, $687,820

Newark, $7,315,357

GLOUCESTER COUNTY

County funds, $804,857

HUDSON COUNTY

County funds, $1,874,303

Bayonne, $925,177

Hoboken, $641,319

Jersey City, $5,468,570

North Bergen, $418,593

Union City, $622,932

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

County funds, $1,739,905

Edison, $349,440

New Brunswick, $510,036

Old Bridge, $159,664

Perth Amboy, $388,023

Sayreville, $130,288

Woodbridge, $402,895

MERCER COUNTY

Ewing Township, $143,248

Hamilton, $398,638

Princeton, $142,940

Trenton, $2,573,266

MONMOUTH COUNTY

County funds, $2,348,328

Asbury Park, $243,463

Long Branch $295,390

Middletown, $156,171

MORRIS COUNTY

County funds, $2,182,700

Parsippany-Troy Hills, $127,137

OCEAN COUNTY

County funds, $820,810

Brick Township, $177,866

Lakewood, $835,784

Toms River, $238,318

PASSAIC COUNTY

County funds, $537,434

Clifton, $673,595

Passaic, $801,051

Paterson, $2,447,386

Wayne, $115,614

SOMERSET COUNTY

County funds, $646,398

Franklin Township, $160,933

UNION COUNTY

County funds, $4,139,331

Elizabeth, $938,750

Union Township, $382,323

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook.

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