CARES Act in Action: How the City of Arlington is Using Coronavirus Relief Funds

By Office of Communication

Posted on April 22, 2020, April 22, 2020

As the City of Arlington receives and deploys CARES Act funds, the Arlington CARES Act in Action series will take a closer look into how Arlington is using its portion to serve, support and protect Arlington residents and businesses.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability Act (CARES Act) is the third COVID-19 relief bill approved by Congress in March 2020. The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020, and infuses $2.2 trillion into the American economy. The legislation has multiple components distributed directly to individuals, big corporations, small businesses, public health, education, and state and local governments.

Nearly $340 billion is set aside for direct aid to state and local governments to use for COVID-19 response expenses. These state and local government funds are only available for states, counties, and cities with population over 500,000. With a population of just over 392,000, Arlington will not receive this direct aid from the CARES Act package, although Fort Worth will receive $156 million and Dallas will receive $235 million in direct aid for reimbursement of COVID-19 related expenses. The City of Arlington is hopeful to receive a portion of the more than $200 million allocation to Tarrant County or $8.1 billion allocated to the State of Texas.

Although Arlington is not receiving direct aid, the City is receiving relief funding through several grant programs including CARES Community Development Fund (CARES-CDBG), CARES Homeless Assistance Grant (CARES-ESG), Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), and the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA). There is also funding anticipated from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Health and Human Services Programs (HHSP), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA). The City of Arlington is tracking all of these funding sources to connect the dollars to the needs of the City.

Connecting Funding To Needs

For all grant programs, the City of Arlington is accessing and activating these funds as quickly as possible. By April 30, the City has completed necessary actions to access the Emergency Housing Assistance Corporation, FTA transportation funds and HHSP housing funds. Additional funds will be activated in May and June for increased non-profit support, rental assistance and homelessness prevention. The Arlington Police Department is also applying for supplemental Byrne JAG funds to support public safety, and all city departments are tracking COVID-19 related expenses for potential future reimbursement either through FEMA or the CARES Act.

A fourth stimulus bill has already passed by unanimous consent in the US Senate and is anticipated to pass the US House and be signed by President Trump later this week. This relief bill provides $480 billion of additional assistance resources for small businesses and hospitals. A fifth assistance bill is anticipated from Congress in May to address additional needs for states and cities. For more information on resources available for residents and small businesses in Arlington, visit www.arlingtonx.gov/coronavirus.