Sentinel staff report–
Public records show a little over $1 million trickled down to Citrus Heights from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act stimulus bill passed this spring in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to allocations listed on the California Department of Finance website, the City of Citrus Heights was allocated a total of $1.08 million in relief funds. City spokeswoman Nichole Baxter confirmed the amount and said Citrus Heights applied to use its CARES Act funds to support public safety and the city’s Great Plates program.
She said CARES Act funds are restricted to uses for “necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency.” Time constraints are also put in place on the funds, for expenses incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30 of this year.
“The CARES Act allocation was used to cover eligible expenses incurred by the City in response to the pandemic emergency, including payroll costs for public health and public safety employees who are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency,” Baxter said in an email Monday. “The majority of those eligible expenses were within the police department, and also for the Great Plates program, including communications.”
The Great Plates Delivered program uses a combination of local, state and federal emergency funds to pay select restaurants up to $66 per day per senior, for three meals to be delivered to qualifying seniors each day. The meals must be low sodium and include a fresh fruit or vegetable, according to state guidelines.
Local restaurants that have participated in the program include Beach Hut Deli, Boston’s Pizza, Ciro’s Pizza, Dos Coyotes, Nor Cal Subs, and R Vida Cantina.
COVID-19: Citrus Heights businesses received millions in PPP loans. See the list
Coronavirus shutdowns hit cities like Citrus Heights hard, with the city reporting a drop of close to $1 million in sales tax revenue for the past fiscal year. The city typically receives about $12 million in sales tax each year, making up about one-third of its general fund budget.
A total of $500 million in relief funds were allocated to California cities from the CARES Act, with cities receiving amounts as little as $50,000, to some receiving over $30 million. The neighboring City of Roseville received $1.8 million in CARES Act funds, and Rancho Cordova received around $968,000.
The County of Sacramento also received separate CARES Act funding, totaling $181 million, much of which went to the sheriff’s department.
See Coronavirus Relief Fund allocations per city: click here
