On Tuesday, Oct. 26, the Irvine City Council unanimously agreed on the ways in which the city would spend $56 million it received from the American Rescue Plan Act. The funds, part of $1.9 trillion in federal COVID-19 relief, will distribute more than $28 million toward quality of life and infrastructure improvements in Irvine.

In its decision-making process, Barbara Arenado, Deputy Director of Financial Management and Strategic Planning, explained that the city focused on five core values – quality of life, natural environment, traffic and mobility, fiscal strength and organizational excellence.

Of the total, the city plans to allocate more than $28 million to quality of life improvements, which includes $5 million for vulnerable families and small businesses. Another $5 million will be spent on implementing the One Irvine Program, which will act as a long-term community reinvestment plan that will target older neighborhoods.  

With approximately $4 million of the American Rescue Act funds, Irvine will launch a pilot program focused on improving mental health services in Irvine, while exploring partnerships with Be Well OC.

The city of Irvine will also spend $7 million on ensuring the safety and hygiene of public places.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said the American Rescue Plan Act will assist in the future growth of Irvine, and was proud to announce that the city of Irvine would be allocating more than $250,000 toward eliminating food insecurity.  

“The City Council’s approval of the ARPA spending plan will allow us to further meet the needs of our community by investing in affordable housing, child care, municipal broadband, mental health and most importantly, eliminating food insecurity in our city,” Khan said. “We know that our diverse community has diverse needs, however, food insecurity should not be one of them. These funds partnered with other funding sources will allow us to develop a sustainable farm-to-table program to eliminate food insecurity for our most vulnerable residents.”

In terms of the other core values, Irvine plans to spend more than $5 million on the natural environment, which includes planting more than 400,000 trees in parks across the city.

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