The City of Spokane has received over $80 million in recovery funds as part of the Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The City has established a working group that will develop and implement partnerships with City Departments, other government entities, and nonprofit organizations for the effective delivery of funds to the community in alignment with the requirements of the (ARPA). As part of this process, it is important that we hear the community's ideas and suggestions on how we allocate and spend recovery dollars.
A framework for allocating these funds, adopted by City Council in Resolution 2021-0080, establishes that the federal recovery funds will be allocated with four main purposes:
Purpose 1: Replenish lost City government revenues due to the pandemic to drive catalytic investments and to restore COVID-curtailed services that will move the city forward and increase our resiliency.
Purpose 2: Reach out to community partner organizations to fund initiatives that will remedy the damage caused by the pandemic with investments that will support future growth and opportunities.
Purpose 3: Resiliency for Spokane – as we bounce back, we must make significant investments in forward-thinking initiatives that will create long-term, sustainable growth, and stability for the City of Spokane and all its community members; and
Purpose 4: Relief for residents and businesses that have been left behind by other relief programs.
The City of Spokane is committed to equitably and effectively utilizing ARP resources to help our community bounce back as soon as we can and in the best way possible. To do this we look to fund organizations and businesses that take into consideration past inequities and will go forward to honor the expertise, relationships, and resilience within communities of color and those historically impacted by inequities providing them with lasting partnerships and co-created solutions to eliminate systemic hardships.
The City is currently accepting idea submission forms for the spending of ARP dollars. These are not applications for funding, which will occur during a Request for Proposals process in the future. Any person, organization, member of the City Administration or City Council may submit a project idea to arp@spokanecity.org using the ARPA Project Idea Submission Form.
Community feedback will help guide our decisions and move us in the direction of economic empowerment and recovery for Spokane. Using the link below, you will be directed to a ThoughtExchange platform where your thoughts matter. ThoughtExchange is a new tool that Council is using to engage Spokane residents and find out what matters most to you. Please give it a try and let us know if you have feedback on this first step of our public engagement process.
ARP Community Townhall Meeting
District 3
WHEN: Tuesday, October 26th
TIME: 5:00PM – 7:00PM
WHERE: North Central High School 1600 N Howard Street, Spokane WA
District 2
WHEN: Thursday, October 28th
TIME: 5:00PM – 7:00PM
WHERE: Ferris High School 3020 E 37th Ave, Spokane WA
District 1
WHEN: Wednesday, October 27
TIME: 5:00PM – 7:00PM
WHERE: Rogers High School 1622 E Wellesley Ave, Spokane, WA
