SLO County, local cities get $84.9 million in stimulus money. Here’s how it could be used
As part of the federal $1.9 trillion economic relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday, San Luis Obispo County communities will get millions of dollars to help fill budget gaps.
In total, the county and its cities will receive nearly $85 million.
That’s welcome news to communities still reeling from COVID-19 economic impacts, local leaders say.
California’s state government is expected to get about $26 billion, while local governments in the state will get a total of $16.6 billion.
“It is great to see Washington acknowledge the efforts of local governments in this relief package, as they have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 response and suffered significant revenue losses as well,” Morro Bay city manager Scott Collins said. “We greatly appreciate the significant efforts of Congressmember Salud Carbajal to make this relief package a reality.”
Here’s a breakdown of how much money San Luis Obispo County communities will receive, and what they plan to do with the funding.
SLO County gets more than $54 million in federal funding
San Luis Obispo County will get $54.9 million in federal dollars, which will help prevent further budget cuts, said Wade Horton, county administrative officer.
County supervisors had to eliminate $26 million from the budget in 2020 due to coronavirus economic impacts.
Horton noted the new federal dollars are one-time funding, and nearly all of the county’s costs are ongoing. But the money will stave off further cuts while county and state funding sources stabilize, he said.
The county will not be able to recover positions eliminated in 2020, but officials had told departments to prepare for more cuts this year. Now, those cuts won’t be necessary, Horton said.
San Luis Obispo County staff will present the additional funding to the county Board of Supervisors at the next meeting on March 16.
“Essentially, what we’re doing is kicking the can down the road to allow the economy to recover,” he said.
SLO plans to use economic relief to fund infrastructure
San Luis Obispo officials said they’re welcoming the influx of $8.93 million in economic relief funds, which could go toward infrastructure needs to help develop new housing in the city.
That includes road and bridge projects, as well as parking and economic development solutions, San Luis Obispo city manager Derek Johnson said.
Johnson said the funding allocations will need to be discussed by the San Luis Obispo City Council over the next few months leading up to the start of the July 1 fiscal year.
He said the city’s parking fund was down 60% of normal, noting that the city offered free parking to encourage shopping in the downtown area.
San Luis Obispo’s $76 million annual budget was deeply affected by a strained economy, and allocations were required to address emergency needs and shortfalls in the millions of dollars, Johnson said. Voters approved a sales tax increase in 2020, renewing an existing 0.5% local sales tax and authorizing an additional sales tax of 1%, that will generate money to help improve city infrastructure.
“We’ve consistently heard from voters to put this money toward improving and enhancing quality of life,” Johnson said. “We’ll look at infrastructure and economic development.”
Council member Erica Stewart said, “economic recovery is a major focus currently and through the 2021-2023 financial plan.”
“This one-time funding can help with infrastructure of our city,” Stewart said. “Many projects were put on hold during the pandemic that are essential for our city.”
Andy Pease said the city will consider diversity, equity and inclusion through the projects it chooses to fund, including how to “unlock housing” and encourage transportation methods that don’t require the use of a car.
Morro Bay hopes to improve roads, restore recreation jobs
Morro Bay will receive $1.98 million toward its $16 million budget, according to city officials.
Morro Bay Mayor John Headding said he’d like to see reserve funding restored, since the city dipped to 15% of a 25% to 28% cushion.
“This is money we use during emergency times, and we need to have available funds,” Headding said.
Headding added the city’s road improvement planning has been stalled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As areas of spending need, he cited overall capital improvement of city spending on projects, as well as restoring recreation jobs and pay cuts city employees have faced in recent months.
Paso Robles, Atascadero receive $11 million in total
Paso Robles and Atascadero will get a combined $11.7 million in federal economic relief funds.
Atascadero is set to get $5.66 million, and Paso Robles will receive $6.05 million.
Terrie Banish, Atascadero deputy city manager, said the city is in the midst of its budget process, and officials were anticipating potential federal funding.
“We’ve been certainly following the bill and were hopeful,” Banish said.
Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin said the council has not yet decided how to spend the $6.05 million Paso Robles is receiving, and he wants to better understand the restrictions on how the federal dollars could be used.
“It’s nice to hear that we’re getting that much money,” he said.
Paso Robles city staff last year told The Tribune the city was facing a $6 million budget shortfall in each of the next two years.
Martin couldn’t get specific about immediate spending priorities for the federal funds, but resident surveys and a recent budget visioning workshop showed street repairs, public safety and economic development are all important issues to the community, he said.
As the city recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, officials want to diversify Paso Robles’ job base to help the community better prepare for future downturns.
Paso Robles’ police and fire departments also need more funding, and officials want to continue to push street fixes, as well, Martin said.
“We want to make sure we do address our roads even faster than in the past,” he said.
Stimulus money covers COVID-19 costs for Arroyo Grande, other cities
In the South County, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Pismo Beach are set to get a collective $7.45 million.
Arroyo Grande will receive the largest piece of the pie with $3.38 million.
Arroyo Grande Mayor Caren Ray-Russom on Wednesday told The Tribune that it is unclear how exactly the city will spend the stimulus support money, though she noted that that amount would go a long way toward helping pay for “significant costs” the city took on to keep local businesses open during the pandemic.
“I am thankful that it appears that cities’ costs for COVID will be covered,” she said. “We have spent significant staff time, waived associated permit fees, paid for the k-rails for parklet safety. ... Our council was very clear that we wanted to do everything we could to keep the local economy rolling.”
Ray-Russom added that the council “is eager to weigh our options and plan what’s best for our city.”
Grover Beach, which is expected to get $2.5 million in funds under the package, could potentially use the money to fund “infrastructure investments and continued economic/business assistance as part of our budget process,” Mayor Jeff Lee said Wednesday night.
Lee added that the city is still reviewing the allowable uses for the funding, however, to determine how it could be spent.
Pismo Beach, the smallest of the three South County cities, will get the least in economic relief funding: more than $1.5 million.
Mayor Ed Waage said he has “no idea what we will do with it at this time,” but noted that the city is expected to discuss its budget April 14, at which point it could talk about how to allocate the funding.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 6:05 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)