Melrose's COVID-19 Spending At Nearly $500K

MELROSE, MA — The city has submitted nearly half a million dollars in coronavirus-related expenditures for reimbursement by the federal government, according to city documents.

The largest reimbursement was $174,655.91 for personal protective equipment for first responders, grocery store workers, gas station attendants and others who work with the public.

There was $128,974.55 for rapidly setting up a telework infrastructure, and $120,871.14 for staffing costs, which includes overtime, additional hires and backfilling staff who tested positive for COVID-19.

There are $23,908.51 being reimbursed for grocery/meal deliveries by the Council on Aging and Melrose Helps. There was $15,002.18 for the cleaning and disinfecting of the DPW, police and fire public buildings, and police are being reimbursed for $8,212 on signage and communication, including translations.

Overall the city put in for $470,355.62 to be reimbursed by FEMA and the CARES Act.

Melrose Emergency Management Director Allan Alpert told Patch if everything goes according to plan, the city could get out of the pandemic with virtually no direct financial cost — though, of course, the true cost of the pandemic and lost revenue is much, much higher.

"If done properly, when we get out of this there should be basically no cost," Alpert said.

FEMA is reimbursing 75 percent of eligible costs dating back to Jan. 20, and the CARES Act provided Melrose with another $2.4 million that should make up the difference on costs after April 1.

The money is available through the end of the year, so Alpert is making sure funds last in the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19.

"We don't know how long we'll be masking up, and this way we're sure this money will be there through December," he said.

The city was able to get a head start on tracking expenditures thanks to Alpert, who last year brought four decades of experience to Melrose from Chelsea. He instructed department heads early on to list expenses, scan receipts and make payroll copies to make tracking easier.