Here are 3 big ways Charlotte is looking to spend $60 million in COVID aid

City leaders are trying to figure out the best way to distribute $60 million in federal COVID-19 relief money throughout Charlotte.

Many details still need to be worked out to determine which groups and city programs could benefit from the American Rescue Plan Act funding.

This week, Charlotte City Council members explored three main funding categories, plus a slew of smaller potential investments, that will likely be refined in committee meetings. The primary categories are: homelessness prevention and housing rehabilitation, workforce development and employment, and “community vitality.”

The only money committed so far is $2 million for the arts and culture sector, said Shawn Heath, special assistant to the city manager. That is part of the Council’s longer-term vision for rethinking a sustainable funding stream for the local arts ecosystem.

Charlotte received $71 million in mid-May under the American Rescue Plan, with $11 million earmarked for city operations. Charlotte must spend that money by Dec. 31, 2024, City Manager Marcus Jones said.

The city also expects to receive another $71 million from the act in mid-May 2022.

Under the federal CARES Act — the first wave of COVID-19 relief — Charlotte officials scrambled to appoint task forces, determine funding breakdowns and launch new recovery programs with a tight initial deadline of the end of 2020.

But Jones said Charlotte has more flexibility this time around and can build “on successes we already have.”

“With a thumbs up, we could go pretty fast,” Jones told Council about bringing city staffers’ ideas to fruition. “This is just our best thinking at this point in time. Nothing is binding.”

Council committee chairs, in interviews with the Observer this week, say it is too early to judge these preliminary proposals and predict when stimulus funding could be allocated.

Here is what’s under consideration for now.

Housing and homelessness

Heath outlined using $20 million from the American Rescue Plan for housing and homelessness efforts. That includes:

▪ $10 million for neighborhood stabilization investments, such as home repairs and assistance for prospective homeowners.

▪ $10 million for the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing and Homelessness Strategy, which will be developed by leaders across housing, health care, government and business fields. By October, Heath said, the Council will have a better understanding of possible funding options.

Council member Malcolm Graham, chair of the Great Neighborhoods Committee, said neighborhood stabilization programs are closely linked to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

That land-use document, adopted by the Council last month, outlines an equitable path for growth and development in Charlotte over the next two decades. It also calls for the creation of an anti-displacement commission to protect vulnerable residents.

“Obviously we want to make sure that individuals and communities are part of the change and not victims of change,” Graham said about using the new federal funding. “We’re trying to find ways to strengthen neighborhoods.”

Graham said he expects far more than $10 million will be needed for Charlotte’s contribution to the area’s new homelessness strategy.

It will cover strategies for preventing homelessness, increasing the affordable housing supply, improving temporary shelter and transitional housing, while integrating support for mental health and substance abuse treatment, child care and employment.

Workforce development and employment

Heath suggested $16 million could go to workforce development and employment investments. On the table for City Council consideration is:

▪ $5 million for small business support.

▪ $5 million for workforce support and jobs training, including in “opportunity corridors” like Beatties Ford Road that Charlotte leaders want to rejuvenate through economic development.

▪ $4 million for the hospitality sector, including for both the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and for hotels that “really suffered during the pandemic, based on the magnitude of their revenue loss,” Heath said.

▪ $1 million for job growth and economic mobility programs, among other hiring initiatives, based on pending data from city employee studies.

▪ $1 million for Charlotte’s Open for Business initiative, a digital platform that Heath said has become a hub for the small business community during the pandemic.

“Retooling” small businesses for a post-COVID world is crucial, Council member Tariq Bokhari, chair of the Workforce and Business Development Committee, told the Observer.

Instead of doling out grants — as the city did with its earlier CARES money — Bokhari wants to ensure businesses are able to innovate with new technology, including e-commerce platforms and curbside pickup options.

”Even after everything has completely opened up.. many people in Charlotte are still scared and nervous to go into an establishment because of the coronavirus,” Bokhari said in support of sustainable business models.

Council member Ed Driggs, during Monday’s meeting, questioned whether the hotel-specific carve-out from the American Rescue Plan was adequate, given “the mayhem in that industry.”

Mohammad Jenatian, president and CEO of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality and Tourism Alliance, emphasized that hotels aren’t the only businesses still reeling from the pandemic. Bars and transportation rental companies, for example, need help from stimulus money, Jenatian told the Observer.

Jenatian supports another round of grants, ideally for businesses that have suffered at least a 40% drop in revenue due to COVID. A separate program could also help restaurants expand their outdoor dining capacity or upgrade their indoor air quality.

”A lot of these people still need these funds available to them to stay on their feet,” Jenatian said.

Community vitality

”Community vitality” is the third proposed funding bucket for the American Rescue Plan money. A patchwork of initiatives, especially those targeted in opportunity corridors, could tally $24 million, Heath told the Council. That includes:

▪ $10 million for “digital inclusion,” which most likely entails providing Internet access to Charlotte households, Heath said.

▪ $5 million for nonprofits, including providing grants to local organizations that emphasize equity, inclusion and social justice.

▪ $5 million for public safety, which Heath said could lead to new violence interruption programs or increased policing resources in crime hot spots. The Council could also address domestic violence.

▪ $2 million for the arts and culture sector.

▪ $2 million for YMCA teen programming.

Council member Larken Egleston, chair of the Safe Communities Committee, said it makes sense to use this federal money for youth and domestic violence programs whose daily operations were upended — or exacerbated — by the pandemic.

Future funding allocations, Egleston said, should be rooted in data.

”We would need to demonstrate the geographic areas that were maybe more impacted by COVID,” Egleston said. “We certainly need to do our due diligence and make sure we are using the dollars wisely.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 6:30 AM.