Spokane City Council lays out framework for CARES funds

The city of Spokane received more than $6 million this spring from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Now, it’s going to figure out how to spend it.

The Spokane City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Monday calling for a “community-based, collaborative process” to determine how portions of the city’s coronavirus relief will be doled out.

Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs, who sponsored the resolution, said the process probably should have begun four weeks ago. He expects the city to issue a request for proposals, but a date has not yet been decided.

“Time is running short and people need this money,” Beggs said.

The CARES Act funds must be spent by Oct. 31.

The council’s action doesn’t specify grant recipients, but does establish several priorities for the funding, including low-income homeowner and rental assistance, child care, homelessness, nonprofit service providers and small, locally owned businesses.

A significant portion of the $6.6 million is, effectively, already spent. City officials told the council last week that the city has already spent $1.2 million on its response to the coronavirus thus far, and could spend about $3.5 million in total through 2020.

Those costs can be covered by the CARES Act and other emergency funding sources, leaving an estimated $3 million for the council and administration of Nadine Woodward to direct into the community.

The CARES Act is not the only influx of coronavirus-related aid the city has received.

The city can tap into Federal Emergency Management funds, but must provide a 75% percent match with a local source – it cannot, for example, use CARES money as a match.

Separately, Spokane County received about $90 million from the CARES Act by default because it has a population of more than 500,000 people.