JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A special meeting to grant some Jacksonville residents $1,000 for local stimulus relief may hit a couple of snags as a council member wants to see some revisions to the plan.
Councilman Garrett Dennis said the requirements need to be loosened so more people qualify for the payment.
“I think it’s a great start but I think it’s not enough. It’s only 25% of the hundred and $60 million of that we received. I think we should double that. I think half of that money should go to our citizens," Dennis said.
Dennis is referring to the more than $160 million the city of Jacksonville received from the federal government’s CARES Act. The plan, as proposed by Mayor Lenny Curry, would be will be available to Duval County residents only who make less than $75,000 a year.
An additional qualification requires the applicant to have lost at least 25% of their income due to the COVID-19 crisis. The money can only be used to help with mortgage, rent, and utility payments.
Information on how to apply for the stimulus is not available yet, but News4Jax learned applications will be available both online and by phone.
The individual stimulus funds will be available first-come, first-served.
The remaining money, an estimated $118.5 million, will be put into city programs.
- $35 million for additional testing and hospital infrastructure to prepare for another outbreak
- $12.5 million for an emergency account
- $26 million to help pay for the city's small businesses grants that are now being issued
- $25 million do pay for lost taxes that were coming to Jacksonville
- $20 million to groups that are operating city facilities like the Jacksonville Zoo, the Florida Times-Union Center, and the Florida Theater.
The special meeting begins at 1 p.m. Monday.
