The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The program provides aid and assistance in a variety of ways to help the United States overcome the current recession. The City of Santa Cruz has applied to a number of the ARRA programs to fund City programs which would have not otherwise been funded or were in the process of losing funding due to decreases in City revenues caused by the economic recession.
A summary of the City programs shows that the City has been very active in seeking programs which assist the Santa Cruz community (see slideshow below). The variety of programs and the speed with which they have been undertaken indicates the priority that has been given to using the ARRA funds.
As part of the ARRA program the City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency has been awarded a $4.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. This grant helps fund the conversion of two historic buildings at the former Salz Tannery to a Digital Media Center. The goal of the Digital Media Center is to provide space for the development of digital media applications. Along with the grant comes a number of Federal requirements, one of these requirements is the posting of an ARRA Section 1511 Certification assuring that the funds from this grant will be used for its stated purpose.
Review the Arra Update.