ARPA Funds – Do you know what you’re doing? What about your peers?

SEMCOG is working to support communities in their efforts to use American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) dollars, and we have set up a brief survey to help us better understand the challenges of the process as well as the types of projects being funded. Results of this survey will help us to plan webinars, roundtable discussions, and additional resources to support your community’s effort to spend ARPA dollars to maximum effect. Please complete the survey for your community now.

Last week, a group of SEMCOG officers and staff attended the 2022 National Association of Regional Council’s (NARC) Conference of Regions in Washington, D.C.. NARC hosts this conference for councils of government, metropolitan planning organizations, their leaders and board members, professional staff and local elected officials. Similar to the role SEMCOG plays for Southeast Michigan community officials, NARC provides a venue for SEMCOG to connect with our peers and share information.

Over the years, conference discussions have often centered on the need for a stronger federal partner that provides resources on the scale necessary to address local and regional challenges. This year, the tone and discussion was a little different, given the federal investment in state and local governments via The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA); and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

With CARES Act mostly in the rearview, regions from across the country have pivoted to helping local governments understand the eligibility and reporting requirements of ARPA along with funding programs impacted and created by IIJA. Let’s take a closer look at the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund under ARPA.

Maximizing Opportunities with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s release of ARPA Final Guidance has eliminated a lot of uncertainty for local governments. This has increased the pace of spending – or plans to spend – local ARPA allocations. The primary driver for this movement seems to be that recipients can now select an up-to-$10 million “standard allowance” and use that amount for government services, with a streamlined reporting requirement.

At the NARC conference, the National League of Cities and National Association of Counties reported on how cities, villages and counties are spending ARPA allocations. The organizations shared their ARPA Investment Tracker, which compiles information from local governments to offer a detailed picture of how large cities and counties (with populations of at least 250,000) are deploying the dollars. The tracker includes a sample of 152 local governments from across the country spending a collective $18.4B in funding on more than 2,300 projects, and can be searched by government type, community, and spending areas. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Regions are eager to know what their member local governments are doing to make transformational changes using ARPA funds. This helps prioritize planning and services that regions offered to local governments to help coordinate ARPA investments and maximize impact. While the national tracker is helpful to get a general picture, there remains a need for regional discussion and coordination of investments. Southeast Michigan is no exception.

In the spirit of growing that understanding, SEMCOG is interested in knowing more about how your community is planning to spend their ARPA dollars. We developed a brief survey to help us plan webinars, roundtable discussions, and resources to support your community’s effort to spend ARPA dollars to maximum effect. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey today!