Cobb commissioners non-profit funding Archives

*Cobb Commission Chairman Candidate Larry Savage*

Next Tuesday a group of non-profit organizations will ask the Cobb Board of Commissioners for $1 million to assist their efforts to provide food for those in need in the county during the COVID-19 crisis.

The commissioners will hold a regular meeting next Tuesday that includes a request from the leaders of the Cobb Community Foundation, Northwest Atlanta United Way and the Cobb Collaborative for the funding.

That could come from the $132 million in federal stimulus funding the county government will be receiving in the next few weeks that’s earmarked to replace direct revenues lost to the COVID-19 response.

In a letter sent to supporters Wednesday, CCF executive director Shari Martin said that while “nothing is guaranteed, we believe that this issue has the support of a majority of the Board, largely due to your expressions of support and communications with the Chairman and Commissioners.”

Those groups and others, including some Cobb clergy, pressed for the funding when commissioners met on April 28, but a vote was delayed.

There’s nothing else on Tuesday’s agenda related to the stimulus funding that’s provided by the CARES Act, but two candidates for the Cobb Board of Commissioners are publicly making an informal request elsewhere.

Larry Savage, an East Cobb resident, thinks some of the $132 million should be used to help the Cobb County School District plug what’s expected to a major hole in its finances stemming from the COVID-19 economic fallout.

In a letter to the editor delivered Thursday to The Marietta Daily Journal, Savage—a Republican challenging current chairman Mike Boyce—said the school district could use CARES Act funding for teaching aids and technology used for online learning while in-person classrooms are shut down.

So does Andy Smith, also of East Cobb, a former member of the Cobb Planning Commission who’s running to succeed retiring District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.

Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered state government departments to prepare for 14 percent across-the-board cuts.

The CCSD, whose fiscal year 2021 begins in July, currently operates with a $1.1 billion budget. The CCSD is expected to receive $14 million-$16 million in federal relief funding through the Georgia Department of Education, but a 14 percent cut could be in the range of $70 million to $80 million.

The district has not yet formulated a 2021 budget proposal because the legislative session was suspended due to the virus. Cobb schools gets nearly half of its budget from the state.

“It would be disgraceful for Cobb County government to use this money on frivolous projects, even if they are technically permissible, if there are more valuable ways to deploy the funds in the school district and help relieve the funding crisis the CCSD will face,” Savage wrote in his letter, ending it with “Cobb County School District is one thing we all share that must be protected at all costs.”

Smith also wrote a letter to the MDJ, saying that the $14-$16 million Cobb schools will be getting “will not close this widening gap.

Smith wrote that while he isn’t opposed to Cobb businesses and organizations receiving relief funding from the county, “what I am proposing is that we take care of our future first and provide as the top priority funding to our Cobb County Schools to assist them in offsetting the additional costs they have incurred and will incur educating the County’s students during this crisis.”

The full commissioners’ meeting agenda can be found here. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and will be done via online teleconferencing.

There will be a public comment period near the beginning and citizens can sign up at the Cobb County government website starting at noon Friday.