LFC Comments: Thanks to Carol Ann Schwindel, Eastlake Finance Director, for providing us timely and transparent reporting of the city’s CARES Act Funding.
LFC Comments: Please note that the City of Eastlake spent $965,220.15 on payroll and employee benefits. [$255,991.33 + $656,300.09 + $18,861.85 +33,576.17 + $490.71 = $965,220.15]
This represents 45.1% of the $2,141,698.63 total CARES Act funding from the State. of Ohio. [$965,220.15 / $2,141,698.63]
The State of Ohio paid out $4.532,000,000 (Billion) in CARES Act funding.
Here is a great website that provides information on the CARES Act funding.
Excerpt from the website:
U.S. Dept. of Treasury Guidance (06.30. 2020)
(1) Necessary expenditures incurred due to public health emergency
• Costs incurred to respond directly to the emergency
o Addressing medical or public health needs
̶ Examples: COVID-19-related expenses of public hospitals, providing testing
• Costs incurred to respond to second-order effects of the emergency
o Providing economic support to address employment or business
interruptions due to COVID-19-related business closures
• GOVERNMENTS: Not to be used to fill shortfalls in gov’t revenue
• Expenditures must be necessary
o U.S. Dept. of Treasury interprets this term “broadly” to mean “expenditure is
reasonably necessary for its intended use in the reasonable judgment of the
government officials responsible for spending Fund payments.”
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We will let the citizens of the City of Eastlake decide if the city has spent the CARES Act in compliance the U.S. Treasury guidelines.
In the parlance of poker, we think that the City of Eastlake “filled an inside straight” by receiving the CARES Act funding. Unfortunately, this can be said of most cities and townships in the State of Ohio.
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Categories: Eastlake, Lake County Cities & Townships, Local News