Manteca Hopes $400 Incentive Ups Number Of City Employees Vaccinated For COVID
MANTECA (CBS13) -- There's no COVID-19 vaccination mandate for City of Manteca employees, but there is a cash incentive.
Employees that show proof that they are fully immunized against COVID-19 - which means a minimum of two weeks since the 2nd dose - will receive $400.
There's a deadline: Dec. 15. To receive the incentive, employees must agree to the side letter that requires they show proof of vaccination.
The Deputy City Manager Toni Lundgren told CBS13 the goal of this incentive is to increase the number of city employees who are vaccinated. As of Oct. 5, 51% of Manteca city employees are fully immunized against COVID-19.
The incentives are paid out through American Rescue Plan stimulus funds from the federal government. The City of Manteca received $13 million, in two parts, and could spend up to $148,000 of that on the incentives if all 370 employees chose to be vaccinated. These incentives are not paid for out of the city's general fund or by taxpayers.
One of the unions presented with the incentive is the Manteca Public Safety Managers Association - a group of eight made up of both police officers and firefighters. The association agreed to the sided letter presented to the Manteca City Council on Tuesday night. It notified the board they would accept the $400 incentive.
"We're a pretty senior association even though we only have eight members, most of our members have been in public safety for over 20 years. We wouldn't dream of asking for anything extra to do the job that we signed up for, be it fire or police," said Charlie Goeken, President of the MPSMA and Police Captain.
Employees who are already vaccinated, like Goeken, are still eligible to receive $400. They must show proof of vaccination and be at least two weeks removed from their second dose.
