$490K In COVID-19 Reimbursements Approved By Marietta Council

MARIETTA, GA — City of Marietta employees will soon have a little more money in their pockets to make up for expenses they incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marietta City Council members unanimously voted last week to approve up to $490,000 in federal COVID-19 money to reimburse city employees for pandemic-related expenses. Just over 700 employees are eligible for the reimbursements, city officials said at the council meeting.

It's not the first time council members have done something like this. A similar reimbursement of $400,000 was approved last year.

According to the city's resolution, these payments are authorized and tax-free under IRS code because the pandemic was deemed a "qualified disaster." The resolution also says city workers were essential and that the city needed to reduce turnover to provide the same qualify of service to residents.

“This was all based on the fact that, from the very beginning, all of our employees came to work every day,” City Manager Bill Bruton said during the meeting. “There had been a lot of issues and expenses that our employees have had to bear because of that.”

Expenses such as child care, buying their own personal protective equipment (PPE) and other expenses caused by the pandemic are some of the expenses city employees can get reimbursed, Bruton told the Marietta Daily Journal.

The money provides a maximum of $55.56 per employee per month, with a maximum total of $667 for a full 12 months of work. The city still has roughly $1.4 million in its COVID-19 account from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.