The city of San Antonio is inviting residents to give feedback on the use of pandemic relief money allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Community feedback provided through 10 public meetings will be shared with City Council, which will then adopt a plan in January for using the money.

San Antonio was awarded $326.9 million. ARPA funds are being allocated in two installments; the first was received in May, and the second one will be received in May 2022. The funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.

“During the pandemic, San Antonio along with the rest of the world experienced major health and economic disruptions,” City Manager Erik Walsh said in a release. “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.”

The U.S. Treasury Department has four categories of eligible uses of ARPA funds:

• response to the negative impact of COVID-19;
• government services to the extent of revenue loss;
• premium pay for essential workers; and
• investment in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

As part of the fiscal year 2021-22 budget, the city allocated $97.5 million in ARPA funds to stabilize the city’s budget and to address immediate needs in the pandemic’s aftermath. The $229.4 million balance of ARPA funds will be allocated with council and public input.

• addressing critical and urgent community needs;
• investments in one-time projects (to be spent by 2026);
• transformational projects;
• investments to address inequities and root causes of disparities; and
• leveraging partnerships with partners.

Ten meetings will be held citywide:

• Nov. 6: 10 a.m., Palo Alto College Legacy Ballroom, 1400 W. Villaret Blvd.
• Nov. 6: 3 p.m., Las Palmas Library, 515 Castroville Road
• Nov. 9: 7 p.m., Alicia Treviño Lopez Senior Center, 8353 Culebra Road
• Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Northeast Senior Center, 4135 Thousand Oaks Drive
• Nov. 13: 10:30 a.m., Bob Ross Senior Center, 2219 Babcock Road
• Nov. 15: 7 p.m., Ella Austin Community Center, 1023 N. Pine St.
• Nov. 17: 7 p.m., St. Paul Community Center, 1201 Donaldson Ave.
• Nov. 17: 10 a.m., City Hall Municipal Plaza B Room, 114 W. Commerce St. (Small Business Advisory Commission)
• Nov. 20: 10 a.m., Mission Branch Library, 3134 Roosevelt Ave.
• Nov. 29: 2 p.m., City Hall Municipal Plaza B Room, (SBAC)

Residents may watch the meetings live by visiting www.sanantonio.gov/tvsa or on the city’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cosagov.

Residents can also watch on television channels—AT&T 99, Grande 20, Spectrum 21, and digital antenna 16.1—or listen live by dialing 210-207-5555 and selecting option 1 for English or option 2 for Spanish. Residents may view more information and add the meetings to their calendars by visiting www.saspeakup.com.