Share your opinions on how San Antonio should spend ARPA funds in new survey

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — The City of San Antonio has launched a new survey to ask residents for ideas on how to spend American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 relief funding.

The brief SA Speak Up survey went live today and can be completed until December 1. The feedback will be shared with the City Council on Dec. 9.

The survey can be completed online or over the phone by calling 3-1-1.

“We’ve heard many ideas for how to use these funds over the course of several town hall meetings. Our residents have candidly shared the way COVID-19 has impacted them, from the loss of loved ones, isolation, mental health issues and financial turmoil,” said City Manager Erik Walsh. “They’ve also shared how they envision deploying ARPA funds to address immediate community needs and invest in long-term projects to help our community. I’d like to invite everyone to participate in this survey and share their ideas with us.”

The City of San Antonio was awarded $326.9 million dollars under ARPA and the U.S. Treasury Department has outlined four eligible uses of the funds: Response to the negative impact of COVID-19, for government services to the extent of revenue loss, premium pay for essential workers and investment in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

The City Council allocated $97.5 million to stabilize the City budget and address immediate needs in the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget and said the department will apply five “guiding principles” to the development of the remaining balance of $229.4 million: Address critical and urgent community needs, investments in one-time projects to be expended by 2026, transformational projects, investments to address inequities and root causes of disparities, and to leverage partnerships with community partners.

The survey can be access at saspeakup.com/arpasurvey.