CAIRO — The Cairo City Council unanimously voted Monday night to adopt the fiscal year 2022 budget.

The City Council had approved the $41.1 million budget at its June 14 meeting. The budget goes into effect Thursday, the beginning of the city’s fiscal year.

The budget is an increase of $4.9 million over the 2020-2021 budget.

The new budget calls for just over $7.2 million in capital projects.

The budget also includes $1.5 million from the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill that was passed earlier this year by Congress. Of that, $65.1 billion has been designated for cities.

The city is expected to receive that money by Wednesday.

There are a number of water and sewer projects that will be funded through the ARP funds. The city also will give its employees premium pay for their work through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget also includes projects to be funded through the 2020 SPLOST ($1.8 million) and TSPLOST ($1.3 million).

Kevin Price can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1820