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American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
The City of Grants Pass will receive $9.37 million in ARPA funds. The funds must be spent or allocated by 2024 to respond to immediate public health and financial stability needs, support households, workers and business that were hit hardest by the pandemic. The funds are also intended to be used to make strategic long-term infrastructure investments for a strong economic and equitable recovery. For more information about the ARPA program, please visit U.S. Treasury at: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus.
The City is allocating $3 million of the $9.37 million to the Water Capital Fund which will help to offset currently scheduled water rate increases. Details on the long-term economic benefits of using this portion of funds on the water treatment plant can be found in these documents:
Survey Findings
The City Council requested a survey of all households and registered business in the City of Grants Pass to gather input from the community on how to prioritize spending the ARPA funds. The findings from the City of Grants Pass survey are HERE Version OptionsAmerican Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)Headline.
Survey Information
The survey was mailed September 27th and 28th to all households and businesses asking you to share your ideas and priorities for the remaining $6.37 million of ARPA funds. For information about the U.S. Treasury summary for eligible uses at: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SLFRP-Fact-Sheet-FINAL1-508A.pdf
Deadline
The survey closed October 22, 2021 at 11:59 pm.
Questions?
Check out the Survey Technical and General FAQs to see if your question is answered in them.
Q. When I clicked on the link to go the information sheet and I couldn’t get back to the survey. How to do I get back to the survey?
A. Close your browser or open a new tab and type in the url. It will take you back to the survey. Alternatively, when you click on a link to access additional information, right click on the link and choose open in a new tab. Then when you are done reading, you can close that tab and the survey will still be there on tab you had when you opened the survey.
Q. I can’t access the survey.
A. Be sure to type the url into the browser bar (at the top of the webpage) and not the google search bar, alternatively we can mail you a paper copy to complete and return.
Q. When type in http before the url it takes me to this weird tiny url site. Do I have to type in http:// to get to the household survey?
A. You do not have to type in http:// to get to the survey. You can get to the survey by typing tiny.cc/gphARPA
Q. What does the red * (asterisk) mean?
A. It means the question is required.
Q. It tells me I have an error and then it doesn’t really tell me where the error is?
A. Yes the software will tell you there is an error and will only bring to the section not the question where the error is. Check to be sure a response option has been selected for each item. If an item is blank and it is a required question you will get an error.
Q. Why does the 1st question say to take the survey in Espanol or Spanish? I want to take the survey in English.
A. If you are using Microsoft Edge at the top of the browsers on the right hand side you might have accidentally clicked the translate button. If you unclick that it will ask if you want to take the survey in English or Spanish. Choose the 1st option to take the survey in English.
Q. When I enter my code it takes me immediately to the Thank you page.
A. You or perhaps someone in your household already took the survey.
Q. Can I get a new code.
A. Each household and business is given one code. If you would like we can send you the letter with your code or send you a paper copy of the survey to complete and return. When we receive your completed paper copy, we will enter the paper copy into the system and disqualify the one completed online, if a survey for that code was completed online.
Q. I moved, can I give you my new address and get a survey or survey code?
A. If you moved you should have still received a letter as a letter was sent to every house in the city limits and every current business owner or former business owner between January 2020 to September 2021 registered with the city.
Q. Why can’t you just give me my code over the phone.
A. To ensure only the resident of the home will get the code and not a stranger that we cannot verify over the phone. If you would like we can send you the letter with your code or give you a paper copy of the survey to complete and return.
Q. Can I come in person and get my code.
A. Yes, if you come in person and have an ID with your City of Grants Pass address on file, you can get a code in person.
Q. How long will it take to complete the survey?
A. The survey takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
Q. Can I start the survey and stop it and then come back to it?
A. Yes, you can start the survey and come back to it. Simply close your browser when you stop. When you want to come back to the survey enter the url and the unique code again and it will take you to where you left off (or if you used the back button, it will take you to the last page you were on when you closed the browser).
Q. The survey is asking for my Unique Code. Where can I find that?
A. Your unique code is in the 4th paragraph of your letter.
Q. When is the online survey due?
A. The online survey will close on Friday, October 22, 2021 at 11:59 pm
Q. When is my paper copy of the survey due?
A. The paper copy of the survey must be postmarked by Friday, October 22, 2021.
Why is my letter [or the survey] in both Spanish and English?
A. The City of Grants Pass wants to reach as many of the residents as possible.
Q. Why do I have a unique code?
A. The survey was designed to allow one survey per household or business so every household or business has an equal opportunity to indicate their preferences. The city is trying to prevent “ballot stuffing” where someone would take the survey over and over and give their point of view more weight.
Q. I no longer have a business. Why did I get the survey?
A. The city is interested in the perspectives of business owners that had to shut down during COVID from January 2020 to September 2021 as well as current business owners.
Q. My paper copy of my survey has an unique code on it? Why?
A. Each household or business is allowed to take the survey one time.
Q. What if I tear off the survey code or scratch it out?
A. We will not be able to count your survey responses if your survey does not have its code on it.
Q. Is my survey anonymous?
A. Yes, the code is attached to the mailing list but the mailing list is not attached to the survey so anyone having the code and the data will not know from which address the survey came. Additionally, no names are associated with the mailing address. Finally, all responses will be reported in the aggregate (add together with all the other responses).
Q. Can someone figure out who answered the survey?
A. No, the mailing addresses and survey data are kept separate and on password protected computers.
Q. My husband/wife/son/daughter wants to take the survey too. Can you send me another code?
A. The survey was designed to allow one survey per household or business so every household or businesses has an equal opportunity to indicate their preferences. You may want to sit down and do the survey together with your husband/wife/son/daughter.
Q. Where is all the money coming from that the City is receiving in ARPA funds?
A. The money came available to us in June 2021 from the Federal Government as part of the America Rescue Plan Act.
Q. What if I want to check everything as the 1st priority on the paper copy of the survey rather than rank my preferences?
A. If someone takes the survey and does not rank their preferences or indicate "Not a Priority” we will not be able to record their response as all paper surveys will be hand entered into the survey tool. In essence if the question is not completed by prioritizing when asked, we will not be able to continue to enter the rest of the data into the survey tool because we will get an error preventing us from putting information in the online survey tool.
Q. Do I have to answer all the questions on the paper copy.
A. Only answer the questions that correspond with your choices on Page 2 of the paper copy of the survey and any comments or demographic information you would like to share.
Q. I don’t want to prioritize the options. I just want to check what is important to me. Why do I have to prioritize the options?
A. The survey is designed to prioritize what we should do with the funding. It is for this reason survey takers are required to rank the options. Survey takers can select all the major categories or just one if they like. Within each category there are options. Because we don't have enough money to do everything, in order for the survey to be helpful, we need to know, if people had to pick and choose, what are their 1st, 2nd, 3rd priority etc.. or what is “Not a Priority” for that group of questions. By asking people to make tough choices now the City Council will have better information to work with as they make tough choices on how to spend this one-time funding.
Q. I don’t like any of the ideas listed. What if I want to suggest something else?
A. Under each section and at the end of the section where you rank your priorities you have an opportunity to write in your own ideas. There is also a text box later in the survey where you can write in more comments. Finally, you can come to the City Council meetings and share your ideas on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each the month at 6:00 pm in the City Hall Chambers during the public comment portion of the meeting. When meetings are held on MS Teams instead of in person due COVID-19 you may submit your public comment via email to mayorcouncil@grantspassoregon.gov.
Q. When will the findings be available.
A. The findings will be available in December 2021. The survey findings will be posted on this page on the City of Grants Pass website.
Questions?
See the Survey Technical and General FAQS on this page.
If you still have questions, please call us at 541 450-6035