Housing a top priority for COVID aid

San Antonio residents rank their relief needs

Housing, infrastructure and economic development are the immediate priorities residents want to see funded through San Antonio's federal COVID-19 relief dollars. In the long term, people also want to see mental health and child care boosted, according to feedback to the city.

Other suggested ideas ranked lower with the public. Youths, homelessness, the digital divide and domestic violence weren't considered as high a priority.

Housing far outperformed other categories as an immediate community need. It came in at the top of the list for residents of all but two City Council districts. District 5 on the West Side ranked economic development at the top, while District 9 on the far North Side listed infrastructure.

San Antonio has been gathering public feedback on how it should spend the federal funding for about a month through eight in-person public meetings, a virtual survey and other methods of engagement. The city has around $200 million — most of which it won't receive until May — remaining to budget from the American Rescue Plan Act.

City Council already approved a utility assistance fund of about $30 million to help CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System customers pay overdue bills. Staff proposed using $35 million on continued COVID-19 response — down from the initial $50 million recommendation because of other health grants the city can use.

In San Antonio's most recent proposals, the city would spend about $36 million on immediate community needs: housing, infrastructure and economic development, among other categories. About $128 million would be budgeted for “impactful investments,” which are long-term plans for areas like mental health, child care and more housing.

The city still hasn't proposed any specific programs or organizations to fund those needs. City Council could approve the gener

al spending buckets in early February. Then, subcommittees would work out the details before bringing a plan back for final approval.

Officials also stressed that the city’s federal COVID funds should work in tandem with other large funding programs currently in the works, from San Antonio’s proposed fiveyear bond to the money it’s expecting from the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law.

Pay for city employees

A union for the city’s civilian workers is pushing San Antonio to spend some relief money on premium pay. It’s allowed under federal guidelines, but City Manager Erik Walsh didn’t initially include it in the city’s draft plans earlier this fall, saying the city couldn’t maintain those raises when funds run out.

But after most council members voiced support for premium pay for essential city workers, staff proposed two different scenarios in which employees could see a one-time bonus.

Walsh said if the city uses COVID funds for premium pay, it should look at giving it to all employees, not just the ones immediately eligible.

More than 5,900 city employees qualify for premium pay because they worked on-site during the pandemic. But under another scenario, the city could also extend premium pay to everyone — more than 11,000 city employees, including executives, regardless of where they worked.

Most council members said they still want to see premium pay in some form. Current proposals show one-time payments ranging anywhere from $250 to $3,000, depending on how many employees the city includes and the pay they already earn.

District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran wanted to see a third option that would give more money to people who worked in person than remotely during the pandemic.

“The people we continue to lose to COVID-19 deserve some sort of scenario C,” she said.

Housing relief

Some council members, including District 2’s Jalen Mckee-rodriguez, expressed interest in shoring up the city’s emergency housing assistance program with the funds.

At the rate the city is going, that money may run out by early next year, Walsh said. Additionally, the city hopes to get extra federal funds for housing relief pulled from other cities or states that haven’t disbursed the money quickly enough.

But there could be a gap between when existing funding runs out and when new dollars arrive.

Small-business support

Outside of its regular town halls, the city also sought feedback on what would help small businesses specifically. San Antonio heard from nonprofits and chambers of commerce, too.

More than 150 people who participated in the city’s business survey said access to capital, building capacity and local support were high priorities.

They also identified placemaking, a communitycentered approach to urban design, and ecosystem enhancements as investments that would help small businesses.

Some council members, like District 5’s Teri Castillo, said they were interested in seeing rent relief for small-business owners struggling with those costs.

Who’s represented

Overall, 477 people attended San Antonio’s town halls on COVID funding, according to the city. More people — 789 — participated in the telephone town halls. Another 271 people viewed video presentations at senior centers. Yet another 62 people showed up to small-business advisory commission meetings.

The city also conducted a survey about the relief funds with live polling. Of those who self-reported their race or ethnicity, about 43 percent were non-hispanic white and 37 percent were Hispanic — almost 13 percent identified as multiracial, 4.3 percent as Black and 1.6 percent as Asian American.

Of those who reported their gender, 64 percent were female.

City Council District 9, represented by John Courage, had the highest survey participation rate at 16 percent. District 4 on the Southwest Side, represented by Adriana Rocha Garcia, had the lowest participation rate at 4.4 percent.