City Council heard a presentation discussing the City's use of $8,310,882 allocated to the City as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), COVID-19 relief package. Municipalities will receive funding in two tranches from the U.S. Department of Treasury with 50% provided beginning May 2021 and the balance approximately 12 months later. Last week, the government announced two paths to recoup lost revenue associated with COVID-19. Lost revenue can be calculated using a provided formula or a municipality can take a standard allowance of $10 million.
The federal government set specific criteria for the use of the funds which must be spent between March 3, 2021 and December 31, 2024. Scoring criteria to use in prioritizing the 81 projects submitted by City departments for funding consideration were discussed, as well as ongoing reporting requirements. Council would like to have the option of adding projects to the list. Council asked staff to add a funding category for community programs and set aside funds to address COVID-19 needs. Staff will bring back a scored and ranked list of projects for consideration by the council at a later date.
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