Cathedral City has been awarded an estimated $840,138 from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the agency's COPS Hiring Recovery Program. The grant, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will enable the City to hire three police officer positions for a three year period. The grant awards were announced by Vice President Joseph Biden and US Attorney General Eric Holder

Competition for the grants was intense. 7,272 agencies applied for the grant nationwide. An award was given to 109 of the 357 California agencies who applied, or about 30%. Nationally, only 12% of all applications received funding.

Including this grant, Cathedral City has been successful in obtaining $2 million in federal stimulus funds. The City has made application for an additional $47 million, however these applications are still pending.

One of the most exciting programs ever undertaken by Cathedral City is about to get underway.

The "Cathedral City Economic Stimulus Program" was approved by the City Council, operating as the Redevelopment Agency Board, in April. The RDA is entirely separate from the City's General Fund operations such as Police, Fire and other essential services. Monies were redirected from a moribund Street Facade Improvement program towards this immediate and urgently needed stimulus package. For our City's new car dealerships, this means a greatly expanded ability to attract customers via promotions funded both by the City and the dealerships themselves. Much of the City's General Fund (which supports Police, Fire, etc.) is derived from auto sales taxes.