The city of Spokane is finalizing a survey that will gauge how residents want it to spend coronavirus aid money.

With about $3.3 million to spend from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act, the city expects to launch an online survey as early as Friday that will help officials determine how to allocate that aid.

The city received $6.6 million from the CARES Act, but about half of that has already been designated to pay for the city’s internal coronavirus response. The remainder is expected to be split between various factions of the community, such as social service providers and businesses.

The survey coincides with a resolution, passed by the City Council last month, that called for a “community-based, collaborative process” prior to the allocation of CARES dollars.

The resolution broadly outlined categories for funding, including low-income homeowner and rental assistance, child care, homelessness, nonprofit service providers and small, locally owned businesses.

The survey will be posted on the city website and will likely be emailed through the city’s weekly community newsletter. It may also be marketed on the neighborhood-based social media site Nextdoor.

Members of Mayor Nadine Woodward’s administration and City Council staff collaborated on a draft survey this week, which was discussed by the council during a study session on Thursday.

The draft survey discussed on Thursday was brief. City spokesman Brian Coddington told the council that the city was aiming to prevent “survey fatigue.”

“We’re trying to strike a balance between being very in depth on our survey but also recognizing there’s a lot of survey activity happening right now in the community,” Coddington said.

Contrary to its prior understanding, City Council President Breean Beggs said Monday that the city can use CARES Act funds as the 25% match when applying for Federal Emergency Management aid – which would increase the amount the city could distribute to $5.75 million.