City of South Lake Tahoe opens survey for whole South Shore on how to spend $5.3M in ARPA grants

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City of South Lake Tahoe has launched its participatory budget survey to assess community priorities in identifying which of 20 proposed projects should be funded by $5.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grants. During the last "Community Conversation," department heads unveiled the projects they'd each like to see completed with this funding.

The survey is being conducted online from July 22 through August 9 in partnership with Stanford Crowdsourced Democracy Team at no cost to the taxpayer. All areas of the South Shore can participate, not just within the City Limits. The survey is divided into these areas: City of South Lake Tahoe, Stateline/Roundhill, Sphere of Influence/Meyers area, Emerald Bay/Tahoma.

The ARPA was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, which established a $130 billion Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund to provide funds for cities, counties, and special districts to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. The City of South Lake Tahoe, as a Non-Entitlement Government (population under 50,000), will be allocated $5,309,994.

Within the categories of eligible uses, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities. The City Council has developed a list of 20 proposed projects to which ARPA funding could be allocated, including housing, parks, aging infrastructure, and public safety building improvements. We are asking the public to review the projects and choose which ones they would like to see funded, up to the total allocation of $5.3 million. The anonymous survey will not allow respondents to go above this amount, ensuring fiscal responsibility in the allocation of funds.

The list of proposed projects is available at https://www.cityofslt.us/ARPA and the Community Conversation featuring this topic may be streamed at City of South Lake Tahoe’s Facebook page.

The City Council will use the survey results in their discussion during the Budget Workshop scheduled for August 17 at 9:00 a.m. To take the survey, visit https://pbstanford.org/2021-south-lake-tahoe.