When the federal government gave Phoenix $293 million in coronavirus relief, it came with a Dec. 30 deadline to spend or give it back. Three weeks out, Phoenix figured it has almost $9 million left.

On Tuesday, the council voted to spend more than $5 million to help residents cover things like water bills, utilities and rent.

“I wish we would have been able to do more of that early on seeing the trouble that folks have been through and now that the pandemic has increased I hope we can prioritize giving money directly to assisting families in their homes,” said Councilmember Carlos Garcia.

More than $1 million goes into the city’s small business relief fund. According to the city’s economic development department, Phoenix has about 485 business applications ready to be processed but ran out of money.

“It’s helped the small business people continue to manage their businesses and keep them out of trouble and preventing them having to go into asking for utility assistance,” Councilwoman Debra Stark said. “I know my hairdresser took advantage of it, and it kept her afloat. It kept her and her husband afloat.”

The council also allocated $2 million for additional community testing and $500,000 for food relief.

Here’s the breakdown:

• $3.3 million to Wildfire for utility, rent, mortgage payments
• $2 million to Project Assist to help cover city water bills
• $1,087,000 to small business relief fund
• $2 million to community testing
• $500,000 to food relief

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