Do you want to make an impact on how the city of San Antonio recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic? By attending public input hearings hosted by the city you can!
The city of San Antonio was awarded $326.9 million by the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for the city’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. City leaders allocated $97.5 million “to stabilize the City budget and address immediate needs.”
For the rest of the money -- $229.4 million -- the city is encouraging the public to provide community input for the use of the remaining city’s ARPA funds.
The town hall meetings will be available in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language. People may attend in person, watch online at www.sanantonio.gov/tvsa, or on the city’s Facebook video page at https://www.facebook.com/pg/cosagov/videos/, or watch on television. The television channels livestreaming the meetings will be available on AT&T99, Grande20, Spectrum 21, and digital antenna 16.1. The meetings will also be available by live audio in English and Spanish by dialing (210) 207-5555. Select option 1 for English and select option 2 for Spanish.
The dates, times, and locations of the town hall meetings are shown in the table below.
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In a statement about the process, City Manager, Erik Walsh said, “During the pandemic, San Antonio, along with the rest of the world, experienced major health and economic disruptions. The city has presented a spending framework for the use of these one-time federal funds to continue responding to the pandemic, address immediate community needs and make impactful investments. I’d like to invite all of our residents to join us at one of eight community-wide town hall meetings to share their feedback. We are looking forward to seeing you and engaging with you on this important matter.” The city council is required to finalize a plan by January 2022.
According to a news release from the city, the federal funds are eligible for use in four categories:
- COVID19 relief
- Replenishment of revenue loss for government services
- Premium payment for essential workers who provide essential services
- Investment towards water, sewage, and broadband telecommunications infrastructure
The city’s plan for the funds is focused on achieving five objectives, the news release said:
- resolving urgent and critical community issues
- investments in one-time projects until 2026
- investments in resolving inequities and disparities
- a focus on financing transformational projects
- partnership leveraging.
Scroll down to watch video of past meetings:
November 6, 10:30 a.m.
November 6, 3 p.m.