ARPA Update

Helpful information for your funding questions

by Wade Burkley and Allison Payne, Florida League of Cities

With most Florida cities receiving their first tranche of funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), cities are looking toward how to spend and track these funds.

On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the ARPA into law. This recovery package created the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) that allocates $350 billion for states, municipalities, counties, tribes and territories.

Seventy-seven metropolitan (metro) cities are receiving a total of $1.5 billion directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. There are 334 non-entitlement units of local government (NEUs) receiving a total of $1.4 billion administered through the state.

The Treasury announced the following updates in late September:

▸ For metro cities, the first Project and Expenditure Report will now be due on January 31, 2022, and will cover the period between the award date and December 31, 2021. This date is a change from the previously communicated October 31, 2021, due date for the Project and Expenditure Report.

▸ For NEUs, the first report will now be due on April 30, 2022, and will cover the period between the award date and March 31, 2022. This date is a change from the previously communicated October 31, 2021, due date for the NEU Project and Expenditure Report.

Treasury is expected to provide more instructions, including updates to existing guidance and a user guide to help recipients gather and submit the information through Treasury’s Portal. For more information, go to treasury.gov/SLFRPReporting or email slfrp@treasury.gov.

NEU CITIES AND METRO CITIES HAVE REQUIREMENTS

Most of Florida’s cities, towns and villages are NEUs. The Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) is administering the disbursement of Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (LFRFs) to the NEU cities. These are cities generally with a population under 50,000. Funding agreements were sent to NEU cities in August. Once cities signed and submitted their funding agreements to DEM, they became eligible to receive their first tranche of funding.

Seventy-seven Florida cities are metro cities and receive their LFRF directly through the Treasury. These cities are: generally above 50,000 in population, currently metropolitan cities under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and cities that relinquish or defer their status as a metropolitan city for the purposes of the CDBG program.

Metro cities must meet more reporting requirements:

▸ Metro cities with a population below 250,000 that received less than $5 million in ARPA funding: The Annual Project and Expenditure Report is due each year through 2026.

▸ Metro cities with a population below 250,000 that received more than $5 million in ARPA funding: Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports are due 30 days after the end of each quarter.

▸ Metro cities with a population above 250,000: Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reports are due 30 days after the end of each quarter, and the Annual Recovery Plan Performance Report is due by July 31 of each year through 2026.

Some key considerations when developing your ARPA spending plan include:

▸ Solicit community input and feedback.

▸ Collaborate where you can with your county and other cities.

▸ Document everything for posterity.

▸ Think about how it will be described on the front page of the newspaper.

▸ Determine the harm/need you are looking to address.

▸ Take your time. You have years to spend ARPA funds.

Read more about ARPA funds in the previous issue of Quality Cities at bit.ly/3fszM6W. For questions, email ARPA@flcities.com.

Wade Burkley is the Research Analyst for the Florida League of Cities, and Allison Payne is the Manager, Advocacy Programs and Federal Affairs for the Florida League of Cities.

RESOURCES

Florida League of Cities: flcities.com/rescueplan.

National League of Cities Local Action Tracker: nlc.org/resource/covid-19-local-action-tracker.

Florida Division of Emergency Management: floridadisaster.org/arpa.

U.S. Department of the Treasury: treasury.gov/slfrp.

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