The city of Flint will not be getting a major federal grant that would have paid to keep many city firefighters on the job.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down Flint’s request for a nearly $8 million SAFER grant. The city has used two previous SAFER grants to pay dozens of firefighters.
This grant was intended to fund 39 positions in the Flint fire department. The city may be able to use money from a recently passed public safety millage to offset some of the lost grant funding.
Emergency Manager Darnell Earley says the news is disappointing, "but not wholly unexpected."
Earley called it a critical loss of revenue that will have to be factored in to the city’s budget planning.
