Anaheim : City Employees Offered Loans to Buy Computers

To help Anaheim employees become “computer literate,” city officials have authorized interest-free loans for those workers who want to buy home computers.

The program will allocate up to $3,000 for each loan, which will then be repaid through payroll deductions over two years, public information officer Sheri Erlewine said.

The loans will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, Erlewine said. Borrowers will be required to attend a city-sponsored training class.

Applications will become available Nov. 22.

Anaheim will become the first city in California and the second in the country to loan employees money for the purchase of home computers. Gainesville, Fla., was the first city.

“We want our employees to become computer literate,” Erlewine said Tuesday.

“By encouraging our employees to be familiar with computers, they will be more willing to use new technology in their jobs,” Anaheim City Manager William O. Talley said.