Subject:
Title
Set a public hearing for August 31 to amend the 2020-21 budget related to federal CARES Act spending
Body
EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY:
As part of the federal government's relief package to local governments, entitled the CARES Act, the Town of Vienna received a pass-through allocation from Fairfax County of $2.886 million, based on the Town's 2018 population. CARES funds are for expenses only, and specifically intended not to provide revenue replacement for local governments.
Each department head was made aware of the availability of these funds and eligible uses and developed spending plans for CARES funds based on efforts to prevent and mitigate spread of the coronavirus. These uses include purchasing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), providing teleworking equipment to limit contact in Town buildings, purchasing and constructing barriers in Town buildings, hazard pay and select salaries for employees in direct contact with the public, and temporary worker salaries for additional monitoring of public gathering places and cleaning of public buildings. The Town also allocated $1 million for business relief, as administered through the Fairfax County RISE program, and an additional $100,000 to prevent eviction or foreclosure for residents. Staff currently is working to find the right partner to distribute residential grants.
It is necessary to appropriate unspent CARES funds as of July 1, 2020, so that they can be spent during fiscal year 2020-21 and before the spending deadline of December 30, 2020. As of July 1, the Town has approximately $1,815,692 in unspent CARES funds. The unspent funds are expected to earn $5,000 from the time invested in April 2020 through December 30, so the total amount to roll forward is $1,820,692. Since this is greater than 1% of the Town's 2020-21 operating budget, a public hearing is required.
The Finance Department requests that Council set a public hearing for August 31, 2020 to receive public inpu...
Click here for full text