City discusses COVID emergency funding

Norton City Council learned last week that the city qualifies for additional federal funds to help deal with costs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to City Manager Fred Ramey, council received an update at its Aug. 4 meeting.

In May, Norton received more than $347,300 of federal CARES Act dollars from a pool of funds that had been allocated to Virginia, which distributed the money among localities. In late July, Ramey told council, Gov. Ralph Northam announced localities will be able to request additional funds in the same amount they received during the spring.

The money can be spent only on specific needs, Ramey explained, including personal protective equipment; disinfection and sanitation; virus testing; making public services accessible safely; public building modifications to meet labor safety requirements; other virus-related costs of keeping government operations going; along with assisting local schools and regional jails and helping residents with housing, food, utility and other basic needs.

Up to now, he explained, city administration’s strategy has been to use the funds to cover direct city costs; reserve as much funding as possible until the year’s end to address future challenges; and wait to see if there would be authorization for localities to use CARES Act funds to replace lost revenue.

That final wish has not been authorized as yet.