Birmingham City Council approves $15 million COVID-19 response

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The Birmingham City Council, at its regular meeting for Tues., March 17, voted unanimously to approve Mayor Randall Woodfin’s $15 million COVID-19 Response Plan to help cover emergency needs for police, fire and public works, as well as a stimulus program for small businesses affected by the pandemic.

“I want to thank the council for working with me to secure the funds for the city’s COVID-19 Response Plan,” Mayor Woodfin said in a news release Tuesday night. “This is an important message to the people of Birmingham. 

The city will take about $15.1 million from the city’s General Fund Cash and Investment. The move will not affect current funding of city departments and agencies, officials said.

The funding breaks down as follows:

  • About $547,000 for personal protective equipment and supplies for first responders, including Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, Birmingham Police Department and the Department of Public Works.
  • About $2.6 million for overtime for the fire and police departments and public works.
  • $880,000 to the Information Management Systems Department for equipment and supplies to support increased teleworking. This will allow employees to adhere to public health recommendations of social distancing.
  • $1 million for a small business emergency loan fund, called the BhamStrong Fund.
  • $9.2 million to address the estimated budget shortfall for the next 60 days, as calculated by the city’s Finance Director, Lester Smith, who was present at the meeting to answer questions from City Council members.

The small business emergency loan fund, or BhamStrong Fund, is designed to provide zero-interest, 180-day loans to small businesses with less than 50 employees of no more than $25,000 — with an average loan size of $10,000, according to the release. The purpose is to prevent staff reductions and offset losses related to COVID-19. 

In addition to the $1 million approved by the City Council Tuesday night, the city’s Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity has identified an additional $200,000 for the fund. 

BhamStrong is also designed to include funds from philanthropic and corporate entities. 

The Birmingham City Council will consider additional action as early as next week to launch the program.

Additional information about BhamStrong can be found at www.bhamstrong.com.

In addition to COVID-19 information at birminghamal.gov/coronavirus, the city has established a text message alert system.

People can text BHMCOVID to 888-777 for text message updates. A Spanish language update system is available by texting BHMCOVID19 to 888-777.