DATE: May 19, 2021
TO: Community Service Commission
FROM: Acting Community Services Manager
SUBJECT
Title
Federal Stimulus Funding: Review and Discuss Staff Recommendation for Allocating American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding to Community and Nonprofit Programs
End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Commission:
(1) Reviews and comments on this report;
(2) Recommends the funding recommendation to Council for final approval. End
SUMMARY
The recently passed America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, included over $65 billion in direct federal relief to cities to address the economic and fiscal impacts of the COVID crisis and to assist in the recovery of local communities. The City of Hayward is estimated to receive approximately $38 million in local relief from the federal government to address the internal and external needs of the City associated with the COVID crisis over the next year.
At the April 6, 2021 Council meeting, City staff recommended splitting the funding into two major expenditure categories in a range of approximately $15 to $25 million each:
(1) Community Safety & Economic Recovery; and
(2) Fiscal Recovery & Stabilizing City Operations.
The Community Safety & Economic Recovery category will prioritize the external needs of the community in the areas of: economic development and recovery for small businesses and other impacted business industries; housing and homelessness programs and assistance for the City’s most vulnerable populations; community and nonprofit programs and efforts; enhanced clean-up and maintenance; and partial implementation of some recommendations from the community public safety workshops. This category will focus particularly on addressing the needs of Hayward’s most vulnerable populations and implementing funding and programs with an equity lens as has been done throughout the City’s COVID response.
Staff have recommended that a portion of the federal stimulus funds be dispersed to community and nonprofit programs and efforts with funding recommendations from the Community Services Commission. The estimated allocation of funding to be dispersed to community and nonprofit programs is between $250,000 - $750,000.
In addition to allocating additional funding to community and nonprofit programs, staff have recommended that $10M - $14M be allocated to Housing and Homelessness projects, including extending the Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex program, expanding Winter Warming Shelter services to year-round, and exploring additional projects for implementation as identified in the Let’s House Hayward! (LHH) plan and community engagement process. Additionally, staff have recommended a portion of the federal stimulus funding be allocated as startup funding to support the pilot projects identified in the Public Safety Innovation Workshop.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment I Staff Report
Attachment II Detailed Plan and Process for Expenditure of Stimulus Funding