ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday to transfer $7 million to assist those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The funds will be transferred from the uncommitted fund balance. The legislation was approve unanimously. There were wide range of programs the city addressed during the virtual meeting. One of the main issues on the docket during Monday's meeting was homelessness during the pandemic.
The city has seen a spike in the number of homeless persons camping out at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in recent weeks. Officials have said a local hotel has offered to temporarily house homeless persons, though, as of this point, they have declined to name the hotel making the offer.
$1 million from the fund will go towards homeless preparedness and response activities, city leaders said.
Here's a list of the other items the funds will be used for
- $1 million for children’s food programs
- $1 million for senior food programs
- $1.5 million for small business continuity
- $1 million for emergency purchase of technology required to execute full telework deployment for all non-essential employees
- $1.5 million for the city’s partners in the financial industry to provide emergency assistance to employees and hourly wage earners of businesses engaged with the city whose incomes are adversely impacted.
The added spending is expected to take place as the city's tax revenues have sharply dropped due to the economic slowdown taking place as a result of the pandemic.
Atlanta has not been the only city in the metro area facing difficult financial decisions as a result of the effects wrought by COVID-19.
In suburban Kennesaw, over the weekend, city officials confirmed that they were forced to temporarily lay off 23 employees. Those layoffs were also due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several other resolutions were improved, including one to request that the city provides free COVID-19 testing to full-time and part-time employees city employees that may have been exposed to COVID-19 while performing their required job duties.
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