During our West Fargo City Commission meeting on December 21, 2020 I shared an idea for Covid relief targeted at local small businesses.  The idea is pretty simple…to send each household in West Fargo a $25 gift card that is only redeemable at West Fargo area businesses.  The approximate $400,000 would come out of Economic Development Sales Tax which currently has a balance of over $5 million. 

One of the big advantages of this plan is that it has significantly greater impact than the $400,000 in sales tax funds.  Most people will spend more than $25 at our local restaurants, bars, or stores.  I like the idea of putting the dollars in the hands of our residents to determine which businesses they would like to support and how the money gets spent. 

There are many details that would need to be worked out to make this happen.  City staff is working to outline a more detailed plan by our January 4, 2021 city commission meeting.  More information to come soon.