Brookhaven’s plan for allocating $6.3 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds includes support for residents’ rent and utility bills, police salaries, business promotions and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The plan is described in an agenda packet for a Sept. 22 meeting of the City Council, whose approval is required.
The city received the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds from an intergovernmental agreement with DeKalb County that was approved on Sept. 8.
About $998,000 would go toward medical expenses; $559,000 toward facility sanitization, infrastructure updates and personal protective equipment; $1.85 million toward salary and benefits for the city Police Department; $700,000 for technology updates; $1.1 million for rent and utility help for residents; $100,000 for commercial business support; and $1 million for business publications through the city Convention and Visitors Bureau.
DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader said Brookhaven and Avondale Estates were the only cities that did not have a breakdown of where they would spend the CARES Act funding before the agreement was approved. Rader stalled the city’s portion of the funding a week and a half after the approval of agreements with other DeKalb cities because of Brookhaven’s policies on tax abatements and annexations.
All the medical expenses would go to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, according to the funding breakdown. CHOA requested $1.49 million for expenses for COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment and extra staff, according to the agenda packet. The funding breakdown would allocate less than requested.
Explore Brookhaven, the brand name of the city’s CVB, is set to get $1 million, which would be used mostly for advertisements for businesses in the city, according to the funding breakdown.
The agenda packet does not show how the $1.85 million for the police department would be spent, nor the $1.1 million in rent and utility benefits for residents.