SYLACAUGA, Ala. – At the last council meeting the Sylacauga City Council expressed a desire to make sure city-employed first responders were taken care of during the holiday season. The only holdup was making sure the city could balance a budget with those expenses included.
One week later, the city was able to find just over $53,000 in CARES Act funding to distribute to all full-time fire and police employees in the form of individual $1,000 payments.
At last week’s meeting Council President Lee Perryman asked city employees to look into what the city could do with the CARES Act funding, given the grant features set parameters in which it could be used.
“This is very important, and it was also important to take the time to find the money,” said District 1 Councilman Ashton Fowler. “The CARES Act funding doesn’t take any money out of the city budget. The $1,000 for the full-time fire and police employees is well-warranted and well-deserved.”
“We don’t make a lot of money being police. No one goes into this field to get rich. We do this because we love it,” said SPD Chief Kelley Johnson. “This is important this time of year. This will help our officers have the Christmas they deserve.”
An additional $39,500 was found from unused, budgeted salaries for this year. That money will be given to other full-time city employees that have worked tirelessly in the midst of the pandemic.
