By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com
The Oxford Board of Aldermen passed a motion Tuesday urging Congress to support direct federal funding to all municipalities in Mississippi to help fight COVID-19 and protect citizens from the effects of the virus.
On March 27, Pres. Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act into law which created the Coronavirus Relief Fund; however, only cities with more than 500,000 residents were eligible to receive direct funding.
No city in Mississippi qualified for direct funding from the Coronavirus Relief Fund and the CARES Act did not mandate that state governments share their portion of the revenue received from the fund.
The resolution, approved unanimously by the Oxford Board of Aldermen, states that 96 percent of all municipalities nationwide report that budget shortfalls are the result of unanticipated revenue declines that will negatively impact important services, like fire and police protection.
The resolution states that local municipal leaders know what is best for their cities and need the flexibility to use any federal funding to address the needs of their citizens, un-budgeted expenses and losses in local revenue.
“The Board of Aldermen of Oxford, Mississippi, hereby respectfully requests that the United States Congress support direct federal funding to all municipalities in Mississippi to help us fight COVID-19 and to alleviate budget shortfall in order to protect local citizens from the effects of the coronavirus,” states the resolution.
