Town of Flint Welcomes Community Feedback for Spending $ 99.3 Million in COVID-19 Relief Funding

FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) – (4/27/2021) – More than $ 99 million is on its way to the town of Flint.

The money is part of President Biden’s US bailout to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, tough decisions are going to be made on exactly how Vehicle City will spend these dollars.

“Public safety and burn control, infrastructure, landlord rehabilitation, payment for rental services and help, these are all things that impact people’s lives,” the mayor said. Sheldon Neeley.

Neeley called these priorities the five pillars like better pay for police officers, cleaning up the community, or helping tenants with their utility bills.

Yet creating opportunities with those dollars also means listening.

“When we say we want to hear from you, it’s abnormal for some residents because they haven’t had the opportunity to have it before. Now they have it, ”Neeley said.

Neeley organized a virtual community update Tuesday alongside the city’s new CFO, Shelbi Frayer.

“These are one-time dollars that we’re going to receive here for the community that have the opportunity to make a real impact on our community in a number of ways,” Frayer said during the community update.

Regardless of how the money is spent, Neeley says transparency is key and residents can access the check the register online to see how the city spends its money to move Flint forward.

“We want to make sure we’re doing the job to make Flint a global city because we have world class people here,” Neeley said during the community update.

Residents can share their opinions by taking a survey, by visiting Flint Town Hall, calling (810) 237-2000 or sending an email to input@CityofFlint.com.

The city says it is taking the next ten days to hear from the community.

The first set of dollars is expected to arrive in mid-May.

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