JACKSON, Tenn. – The State of Tennessee reserved $115 million of their allocation from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to be further allocated to eligible local governments on a $15 per capita basis. This amount represents the allocations to be made to all local governments in the state with populations below 500,000. Local governments are initially able to request a 30% advance on their allocated amount and the remaining 70% will be accessed on a reimbursement basis after the advance has been substantiated by required documentation.
As part of the CARES Act, the City of Jackson was awarded approximately $1.03M in funds based on population as an allocation from the State of Tennessee.
In October 2020, the City of Jackson submitted approximately $1.8M in qualifying reimbursable expenses (first responder payroll spanning two pay periods) for FY20 and FY21 pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic and has received $916,936 in reimbursement to date. Since payroll expenses have already been absorbed by the city, the reimbursement funds can be used for other eligible expenses related to the pandemic that will improve operations efficiency and allow for greater social distancing by moving more operations online and providing remote access for employees needing to work from home.
Mayor Scott Conger and the innovation committee have determined to use CARES act funding for the following items:
| Employee Bonuses |
$675,589.00 |
| Non-FEMA Eligible Expenses |
$25,685.00 |
| Dropbox and HelloSign |
$32,836.00 |
| OpenGov Permitting |
$107,826.00 |
| Central Square (fire) |
$75,000.00 |
| Total |
$916,936.00 |
Several of the proposed estimated expenses involve future budget requests in order to maintain software subscriptions. The City of Jackson firmly believes these expenses will provide a high return of investment for the city in improving operational efficiency and citizens' access to municipal services, both during and outside of the pandemic.
The OpenGov Permitting and Licensing Suite was demoed and selected by the building and housing codes department as a way to move permitting and inspections processes online, allowing for more efficiency and accessible communications between employees and citizens.
The fire department's mobile CAD software, Fire House, expires later this year. The fire department desires to be on the same software as the police department, Central Square, in order to improve cross-operations efficiency and communications with dispatch.