City of Mesa, Arizona

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

2021 Report
City of Mesa 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1

Executive Summary 

The City of Mesa, Arizona is a direct recipient of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery

funds. The City’s first allocation of $52,757,862 was received in May of 2021 with the same 

amount expected to be received in May of 2022. As of July 31st, the City has not expended any 

of the SLFR funds. In addition, through the date of this report, the City has not finalized its plan

for its intended use of the funds. Through discussions with City Council and community partners, 

City staff has preliminarily identified eligible programs/purchases for SLFR use. The City will be 

focusing it’s efforts in the following categories:

A. Public Health

B. Negative Economic Impact

C. Services to Disproportionately Impacted Community

D. Premium Pay

The City will continue to reach out to community partners and members as programs are finalized. 

In addition, the City will identify areas for community engagement (i.e. individuals, families and 

small businesses) and efforts to promote equitable outcomes.

Uses of Funds

A. Public Health

The APRA authorizes the use of payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds to respond to the 

public health emergency with respect to COVID-19. Within the Interim Final Rule (IFR), the U.S. 

Treasury says, “Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 including taking actions to control its spread 

and support hospitals and health care workers caring for the sick, continues to require a major 

public health response from State, local and Tribal governments.” 

In addition, the IFR lists many ways in which the Local Fiscal Recovery Funds can support

communities working to reduce and respond to increased violence due to the pandemic. Some 

of the ways to respond to the pandemic related violence includes mental health services and 

investing in technology and equipment “to allow enforcement to more efficiently and effectively 

respond.” 

Programs that are in consideration for Public Health are as follows:

1. PD Real Time Crime Center (Technology and Equipment)

2. Behavioral Health Services 

3. Purchase Ambulances 

4. PD Body Scanner with Thermal Reader

B. Negative Economic Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on households and businesses. The IFR 

noted, “as businesses closed, consumers stayed home, schools shifted to remote education, and 

travel declined precipitously, over 20 million jobs were lost in March and April 2020.” As the 

COVID-19 pandemic continues, the risk of long-term economic impacts due to the pandemic 

related recession continues to exist. This situation underscores the need for community support. 
City of Mesa 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

Programs that are being considered, which specifically assists those that have been negatively 

impacted by COVID are as follows:

1. Energy Commodity Costs

2. Acquire Food Distribution Center 

3. Downtown District Revitalization 

4. Wi-Fi and Mobile Broadband in Underserved Neighborhoods

5. Mesa’s Small Business Learning Lab 

C. Services to Disproportionately Impacted Community

Two of the eligible categories described in the IFR are “Building Stronger Communities through 

Investments in Housing and Neighborhoods” and “Addressing Educational Disparities.” Services 

in the first category should “alleviate the immediate economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic 

on housing insecurity, while addressing conditions that contributed to poor public health and 

economic outcomes during the pandemic.” 

The IFR described the need for the second category as, “school closures and the transition to 

remote education raised particular challenges for lower-income students, potentially exacerbating 

educational disparities, while increases in economic hardship amount families could have longlasting impacts on children’s educational and economic prospects.” 

Programs that are being considered, which specifically provide services to those who live in 

communities that have been disproportionately impacted are as follows:

1. Homeless Solution

a. Local Program

b. Regional Partnership 

2. Education and Enrichment Scholarships

3. Recreational Programming for K-6th Graders 

D. Premium Pay

According to the IFR, “Fiscal Recovery Funds payments may be used by recipients to provide 

premium pay to eligible workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 public health 

emergency.... Since the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency in January 2020, 

essential workers have put their physical wellbeing at risk to meet the daily needs of their 

communities and to provide care for others.”

Next Steps

As mentioned previously in this report, the City has not finalized its list of intended use of SLFR 

funds. Many of these are new initiatives which will require additional time and resources to fully 

develop and deploy. City assigned staff will further investigate and develop the listed programs. 

Updated progress and spending will be reported in future Recovery Plan Performance Reports.