Modesto OKs $2.48M in pandemic relief spending. Where is the money going?
The Modesto City Council on Tuesday approved spending $2.48 million of the city’s federal pandemic relief dollars to help several nonprofits and to address some of its own needs.
The council had allocated much of this spending in May of last year but gave city officials permission Tuesday to carry it out. A city report states Modesto was awaiting final guidance from the U.S. Treasury on how the money could be spent. The report says that guidance came last month.
Council members voted 7-0 on this item.
The $2.48 million includes $500,000 each to the Modesto Children’s Museum, the Graffiti USA Museum, which celebrates the city’s car culture, and to The Awesome Spot, an inclusive playground at Beyer Community Park. The three venues have not yet opened.
The council approved $250,000 for the Convention & Visitors Bureau and $120,000 to Modesto Neighborhoods Inc. The council also approved $100,000 each to Opportunity Stanislaus and Stanislaus Equity Partners; $50,000 each to the State Theatre, Modesto Opera, the Prospect Theater Project and the Modesto Art Museum; and $90,000 to the Stanislaus 2030 economic development initiative.
Stanislaus Equity Partners evolved from the South Modesto Partnerships and as a community development corporation works to support economic development and homeownership in south Modesto and other underserved communities.
The council approved spending $20,000 on an employee recognition program and $100,000 on an innovation lab that the city report states will help the city better deliver services to its constituents.
The money comes from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March 2021. It included $350 billion to the states, cities and counties, as well as U.S. territories and tribal governments.
Modesto was allocated nearly $46 million. It received half of the funding last May and expects to receive the balance this May.
The council last May approved allocating the first of the city’s nearly $23 million into three categories: quality of life, economic vitality, and city governance and service delivery.
Modesto is spending some of its American Rescue Plan money on such projects as $624,000 on a park ranger pilot program, which the council recently approved, and setting aside $1.27 million for park maintenance and $800,000 for a program that would pair mental health clinicians with police officers on calls involving mental health crises.
Modesto officials expect to begin work in April on how the city will spend the next $22.9 million it will receive.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 7:03 AM.
