Spending of Federal COVID Relief Funds
Dear New Brunswick City,
Under OPRA and the common law right of access, please provide records sufficient to show an accounting of how the City of New Brunswick spent federal funding provided to the city for COVID relief.
Yours faithfully,
April N
I am currently out of the office. Please call (732) 745-5041 or email my Deputy Clerk, Shalon T. Bennett at [email address] for assistance. Thank you.
City Clerk,
Leslie R. Zeledón
Dear Requestor,
Please see the email below responsive to your OPRA request from our
Finance Department. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
From: Richard Mulrine <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2022 11:54 AM
To: 'Shalon Bennett' <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA 22.08_593
There are no responsive records to this request. This money has not been
spent to date.
Richard J. Mulrine, CMFO/CTC
Director of Finance/Chief Financial Officer
City of New Brunswick
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Ph: 732-745-5045
Fax: 732-246-7806
Dear Shalon Bennett,
Thank you for responding. Can you provide me with documentation showing the total dollar amount of federal COVID relief funding that the City of New Brunswick has received, and the date on which the city received this money?
Yours sincerely,
April N
Dear Requestor,
Please see the attached documents and the email below from our Finance Department in response to your OPRA request.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
From: Richard Mulrine <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2022 9:50 AM
To: 'Shalon Bennett' <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA 22.09_629
Please see attached information from the US Treasury.
Half was received on 5/19/21 and another on 6/6/22.
Rich
Richard J. Mulrine, CMFO/CTC
Director of Finance/Chief Financial Officer City of New Brunswick
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Ph: 732-745-5045
Fax: 732-246-7806
Dear Shalon Bennett,
It appears that the documents you sent me do not provide the information I requested.
The document you sent titled "Allocation Methodology for Metropolitan Cities" is a federal memo on the ARPA that contains no information specific to New Brunswick. Please provide documentation that shows the total dollar amount New Brunswick received under the ARPA, and the date on which it was received.
The document you sent titled "Allocation for Metropolitan Cities" shows that New Brunswick received $20,726,375.00 but from an unnamed entity (presumably the federal government) through an unnamed program. Please provide documentation that shows through what program New Brunswick received these funds and the date on which it was received.
Neither document you sent explicitly identified any funding New Brunswick received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but I am aware that the city did in fact receive funding through this program. Please provide documentation that shows the dollar amount and date on which it was received.
The third document you sent was a PDF copy of the request I had sent to you and contained no new information.
Yours sincerely,
April N
Dear Requestor,
Kindly be advised that the documents provided, the allocation methodology and allocation chart are the only documents responsive to your request that show the amount of COVID relief funding received from the Federal Government by the City of New Brunswick.
In response to your most recent email of September 11, 2022, where you specify the CARES Act funding, be advised that the City of New Brunswick did not receive funding directly from the Federal Government, but through Middlesex County. Since the funds were received as a grant from the County they were not included in the initial response to your request. In light of you specifically referencing the CARES Act, your email of September 11th will be logged as a new OPRA request and responsive documents will be provided within the appropriate time frame.
Thank you for your interest in these matters.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
Dear Requestor,
Please see the attached documents responsive to your OPRA request
regarding money received from the “CARES” Act. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
Dear Shalon Bennett,
Based on the information provided in the attached documents, it appears that the city has spent a total of $2,261,065.66 from the CARES Act funding - can you confirm this is accurate?
Thank you for providing me with information on the total dollar amount that the city has spent. Please provide records sufficient to show the following information:
1) the date on which New Brunswick received this funding
2) the total dollar amount in funding that New Brunswick received
Yours sincerely,
April N
Dear Requestor,
Please see the attached documents inadvertently not added to the previous response. Also, be advised any difference in the amount is based on what the city applied for and what was actually received in funding. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)