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Bexar County, Texas

Recovery Plan Performance Report

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report
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Bexar County

2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report

Contents

General Overview...................................................................................................................................3

Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................3

Uses of Funds......................................................................................................................................4

Promoting Equitable Outcomes...........................................................................................................6

Community Engagement .....................................................................................................................7

Labor Practices....................................................................................................................................8

Use of Evidence ...................................................................................................................................8

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category.........................................................................................9

Project Inventory ....................................................................................................................................9

Performance Report............................................................................................................................9
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General Overview

Executive Summary 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government created the State and Local Fiscal 

Recovery Fund to address the economic fallout and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable 

recovery. The County received half of the funds and will receive the remaining funds in June 2022. 

Per Treasury guidance, The Recovery Plan Performance Report provides the public and Treasury 

information on the projects that recipients are undertaking with program funding and how they 

are planning to ensure program outcomes are achieved in an effective, efficient, and equitable 

manner. Bexar County will create a new report in the following years that will include key 

performance indicators and some mandatory indicators identified by Treasury. Each Recovery 

Report will grow each year, as counties, cities, states, and tribes increase their spending, projects, 

and reporting. 

As Bexar County begins the process of planning how to use State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

(SLFRF) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), they created a strategic framework with an 

overarching mission statement, values, and potential spending areas. Unifying the County’s ARPA 

funding program under a single mission statement is the foundation for developing a successful 

strategy and will serve as a constant reminder of the end goal to deliver transformational change 

to the County and its constituents. The Bexar County ARPA Mission Statement is: 

To drive generational transformation through the development and execution of strategic 

programs to create a more equitable and resilient future for Bexar County and its constituents

to impact change.

From the Mission Statement, Bexar County has the following four values to work towards. 

Recovery, Resiliency, Equity, and Economic Mobility

From these values, the County adopted six priority areas.

1. Economic Stability

2. Education Access & Quality

3. Healthcare Access & Quality

4. Neighborhood & Built Environment

5. Social & Community Context

6. Justice System

Bexar County is taking advantage of the unique opportunity afforded by ARPA to weave themes 

of equity throughout its programs and funding decisions. Bexar County Commissioners Court 

selected “Equity” as one of the values that have and will guide the County’s funding decisions 

along with Recovery, Resiliency, and Economic Mobility. 
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Uses of Funds

As Bexar County began the process of planning how to use SLFRF, it started by creating a mission 

statement. Unifying the County’s ARPA funding program under a single mission statement is the 

foundation for developing a successful strategy and will serve as a constant reminder of the end

goal to deliver transformational change to the County and its constituents. The Bexar County 

ARPA Mission Statement is: 

Drive generational transformation through the development and execution of strategic 

programs to create a more equitable and resilient future for Bexar County and its constituents

to impact change.

From the Mission Statement, Bexar County has four values to direct how they spend the ARPA 

funds. These values are: 

Recovery, Resiliency, Equity, and Economic Mobility

From the values, the County adopted a framework by using the Social Determinants of Health 

(SDOH) to create priority areas. The SDOH framework encompasses the social, physical, and 

economic conditions that affect an individual's health, well-being, and quality-of-life. The SDOH 

are widely researched and are utilized globally by agencies such as the Center for Disease Control, 

Health and Human Services, and the World Health Organization to address health disparities and 

inequities. By leveraging this well-known framework, Bexar County is ensuring its priorities and 

programs will achieve generational transformation in researched and important topics.

Additionally, Bexar County added a sixth category, Justice System, as another priority area to 

achieve generational transformation, as illustrated in the following graphic.
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The SDOH priority areas serve as a road map and marker for the County’s priorities. As Bexar 

County Commissioners Court desires to have a strategic and measurable approach, the Court 

selected initial spending amounts for the categories, to measure against and publicly 

demonstrate their goals. The spending amounts will remain flexible and will be adjusted, as the 

Court wants to remain nimble in their response and understand that the rate of recovery may 

fluctuate within each category. To understand true needs of the residents, community 

engagement in the coming months will also inform these percentages.*

Priority Area Initial Strategic Allocation 

Economic Stability 24%

Education Access & Quality 13%

Healthcare Access & Quality 23%

Neighborhood & Built Environment 10%

Social & Community Context 19%

Justice System 10%

*Allocations do not add to 100% due to rounding of averages.

Treasury requested that recipients show how they are prioritizing specific Expenditure Categories 

(EC), listed below. Bexar County can point to how their priority areas explicitly promote certain 

Expenditure Categories, as defined by the Treasury. 

a. Public Health (EC 1)
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b. Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2)

o Bexar County wants to focus on housing assistance, small business assistance, impacted 

sectors, workforce development, digital divide, childcare, tourism and non-profit sector 

support.

o Bexar County Commissioners Court approved an initiative to prioritize and incentivize 

their employees to get vaccinated, both to protect their employees and the larger 

community. 

c. Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3)

o Bexar County wants to focus on housing, permanent housing, impacted sectors, 

homelessness, substance abuse, behavioral health services, elder care, domestic 

violence, child welfare, digital divide, learning & enrichment programs, childcare, Reentry/diversion, foster care, and fair, equitable, and efficient justice systems.

d. Premium Pay (EC 4)

o Bexar County Commissioners Court approved a staff motion to look further into premium 

pay needs, primarily for county essential workers that performed necessary and needed 

services during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

e. Water, Sewer, and Broadband Infrastructure (EC 5)

o Bexar County Commissioners Court wants to focus on the digital divide / infrastructure 

needs in their community as well as needed water programs. The Court has already 

approved their first water infrastructure project to provide potable water to a 

neighborhood in unincorporated Bexar County. 

f. Revenue Replacement (EC 6)

o Bexar County has calculated their 2020 revenue loss, based on the Treasury provided

calculation and is still planning the most effective way to utilize these funds for the 

provision of government services. As the normal budget process is underway, the County 

will make decision on these funds in the coming months and will update future Recovery 

Reports. 

Promoting Equitable Outcomes

Bexar County is taking advantage of the unique opportunity afforded by ARPA to weave themes 

of equity throughout its programs and funding decisions. Bexar County Commissioners Court 

selected “Equity” as one of the values and goals that have and will guide the County’s funding

decisions along with Recovery, Resiliency, and Economic Mobility. 

Bexar County is promoting equitable outcomes and plans to continue building a formalized 

framework, as their plan continues to progress. They will build a framework to work towards 

the goal of equity in their community, which they will update in the following Recovery Reports. 
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Actions taken so far to work towards equity in Bexar County include:

• Listing Equity as a value of their overall spending plan

• Selecting priority areas including housing, homelessness, youth outreach, substance 

abuse, mental health, elder care, domestic violence, child welfare, childcare, digital 

divide, foster care, re-entry services, and fair and equitable justice systems. These areas 

seek to work towards serving historically underserved communities and to treat all people 

fairly and consistently

• When connecting with local non-profits for funding requests, Bexar County asked 

questions directly related to equity including:

o What population will be served such as people with disabilities, formerly 

incarcerated, homeless, immigrants, LGBTQ, senior citizens, veterans and youth?

o What is the racial diversity of board leadership of the non-profits?

o What are the intended uses of funds, aligned to the County’s strategic values of 

Equity, Resiliency, Economic Mobility, and Recovery?

• Desire to create future programs with equity in mind from the beginning of program 

design and to continue to measure the progress towards that goal

• Bexar County will consider the themes of the Equity, Resiliency, Economic Mobility, and 

Recovery as they create Key Performance Metrics for programs

Community Engagement 

Bexar County understands how COVID-19 impacted its community, and they continue to listen 

to their residents to best respond to their needs. Because of this, Bexar County wants to have a 

robust community engagement plan, to ensure that the community’s input is captured. A 

community engagement plan is forth coming and the Bexar County Commissioners Court has 

already accomplished the following:

1. Held special public ARPA work sessions to discuss funding options in a public forum as 

well as provide the opportunity for public comment for speakers to sign up.

2. Created a multilingual website to report on ARPA spending in Bexar County and create 

transparency. The County will continue to develop the website to include performance 

metrics. Additionally, there are many opportunities for residents of Bexar County to 

contact County staff including email, mailing address, and phone numbers. 

3. Translated the yearly Recovery Plan Performance Report into Spanish. While Treasury 

does not require additional translations, Bexar County wants to ensure that as many 

residents as possible have access to this information and the transformation that project 

will bring to the community. Given that Spanish is the primary language for many Bexar 

County residents, the County elected to translate the report.
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4. Enacted a dedicated ARPA office to be the clearinghouse of all ARPA requests and 

research items.

5. Opened a grant funding option to the community, for non-profit organizations to request 

funding for specific programs. This captures the community’s needs in responding to the 

COVID-19 pandemic and allows for a strategic approach to provide funding to selected 

projects and organizations that align with the County’s goals.

6. County Commissioner’s engaged with their communities to better understand current 

needs.

Labor Practices 

Bexar County will ensure strong labor standards to promote effective and efficient delivery of 

high-quality infrastructure projects, to support the local economy and local employment. Once 

infrastructure projects are started, Bexar County will report policy or measurements in following 

Recovery Plan Reports.

Use of Evidence 

During this reporting period, Bexar County does not have any active projects that fall under this 

category.
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Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

Per Treasury guidance, once Bexar County completes applicable contracts and an amount is 

incurred as a liability, Bexar County will report on the projects or programs. 

Category Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

6 Expenditure Category: Revenue Replacement $53,096,403

6.1 Provision of Government Services $53,096,403

7 Administrative $149,895

7.1 Administrative Expenses $149,895

Project Inventory 

Bexar County will add to this section as projects begin. 

7.1.01: COVID-19 Project Management Support 

Funding Amount: $149,895

Project Expenditure Category: 7.1 Administrative Expenses 

Project Description: 

Bexar County sought assistance to find the highest and best use for all available federal and 

state resources and other funding sources that can be allocated through a targeted strategic 

response to assist with the long-term disaster and economic recovery for the County. Original 

tasks include:

1. Conducting revenue loss analysis

2. Providing technical assistance for funding guidance, program/expense eligibility, 

coordination of benefits and prevention of duplication of benefits

3. Supporting the portfolio strategy to maximize revenue and allowable 

reimbursements/expenditures for the response forth COVID-19 pandemic and 

subsequent economic impacts

Performance Report

During this reporting period, Bexar County has not incurred as a liability any major SLFRF projects. 

In the future, Bexar County will report the following metrics, at a minimum, for major SLFRF 

projects:

a. Household Assistance (EC 2.2 & 2.5) and Housing Support (EC 3.10-3.12): 

• Number of people or households receiving eviction prevention services 

(including legal representation)

• Number of affordable housing units preserved or developed

b. Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2): 
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• Number of workers enrolled in sectoral job training programs

• Number of workers completing sectoral job training programs

• Number of people participating in summer youth employment programs

c. Education Assistance (EC 3.1-3.5): 

• Number of students participating in evidence-based tutoring programs

d. Healthy Childhood Environments (EC 3.6-3.9): 

• Number of children served by childcare and early learning (pre-school/preK/ages 3- 5)

• Number of families served by home visiting