Municipalities in the Charlotte region have received nearly $800 million in COVID-19 relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act. Half of that went to those in Mecklenburg County to help fund local initiatives, including housing and health care. Beyond boosting funding, the money boosted the ambitions of local governments — and soon, that infusion of extra money will dry up.
Mecklenburg County commissioners in January allocated nearly half of the county’s COVID-19 relief funds through the American Rescue Plan, or ARPA. It passed unanimously with commissioners taking turns praising the spending.
“There are times when we have the privilege to sit at this dais and it becomes so clear how the decisions that we make can alter and change the lives of people,” said Commissioner Mark Jerrell.
Between Mecklenburg County and the city of Charlotte, ARPA dollars are funding $94 million in housing initiatives, $60 million in behavioral health and health equity, and $50 million in workforce and economic development. That money is paying for projects like a co-op grocery store in a west Charlotte food desert, housing for the formerly incarcerated and studio space for local entrepreneurs.
But Commissioner Arthur Griffin had some concerns.
“What happens when the money goes away?” Griffin said.
Mecklenburg County’s ARPA funds over the past two years amount to a chunk the size of 9% of the county’s budget. That money must be spent by the end of 2026. Once that happens, Griffin thinks he’s going to be hearing from a lot of upset people.
“Because the county commission is not going to raise their taxes substantially to replace those funds. Yeah, I definitely don't see that happening,” Griffin said.
How North Carolina, municipalities and nonprofits used ARPA funds
Mecklenburg County and Charlotte gave most of the COVID-19 relief funds to a mix of large nonprofits and smaller grassroots groups. Charlotte Community Health Clinic received nearly $3.8 million from the county to help open three new locations and a pharmacy. The group’s CEO, Carolyn Allison, says it was clear that was a one-time contribution.
“It really is seed money and organizations that receive it should understand that there's a beginning and the end. So those dollars winding down, that's part of our plan,” Allison said.
The state of North Carolina has allocated just over half of its $5.5 billion to infrastructure projects — most geared to improving water quality. Many smaller municipalities in the Charlotte region are using relief funds indirectly to make capital investments.
“In a lot of our communities, they took this federal investment to pay for some of their basic costs and then, really, used their own revenue for some incredibly creative projects in their communities,” said Geraldine Gardner, the director of the Centralina Regional Council.
That includes new playgrounds, trails and pedestrian bridges.
In some of the larger communities, Gardner says, housing is a priority — not just building units, but strategizing.
Turning one-time infusions into sustainable programs
The Brookings Institution tracks how municipalities are using COVID-19 relief funding— and are positioning themselves to turn one-time cash infusions into sustainable programs with lasting impacts.
“We found that places that already had some strategic initiatives and planning in process were able to, I think, build on that and, hopefully, that will provide momentum and also strategic framing for continued programming,” said Lavea Brachman with the Brookings Institution.
The key thing as the relief money goes away, Brachman says, is to make sure collaboration doesn’t stop — between governments, nonprofits and businesses.
The city of Charlotte has made housing a priority and has allocated a third of its ARPA funds to that. Council member Victoria Watlington, who chairs the city’s housing committee says the end of COVID-19 relief funds could have a positive effect.
“It's going to make us think about how to leverage public-private partnerships a lot more and how to be very wise about where we invest, so that what we're doing really is a catalyst for the private sector to behave in ways that would be advantageous to our residents,” Watlington said.
The landscape as relief funds wind down
Doing that kind of leveraging comes at a challenging time. ARPA’s grants to subsidize child care centers are expiring, rounds of federally-funded emergency rental assistance are gone and affordable housing is harder to come by. Carol Hardison, the head of Crisis Assistance Ministry, says before the pandemic, the average rent the group provided to stabilize families was $400 to 600.
Now, it’s $800 to $1,200.
“Wages haven't gone up, and so they're working again, but food’s higher, rent’s higher, ARPA funds are dwindling, and so gaps are bigger,” Hardison said.
Charlotte’s West Side Community Land Trust has plenty of partners, says its director Charis Blackmon. She said what the group needs — that COVID-19 relief funds provided — is capital. The land trust received $6.6 million from the county — mostly to preserve 32 homes as affordable.
“I'm hoping that with these large-scale investments that this incentivizes local government to continue to prioritize investments that are deep and wide,” Blackmon said.
But the word is prioritize — since when the one-time COVID-19 relief money is gone, no one expects it will be replaced.
