American Rescue Plan Act

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fund is used to account for revenues received to replace revenues lost during the 2020 pandemic. The projects selected to be supported by these funds are based on specific criteria set out through the American Rescue Plan Act.

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021. This act created the Coronavirus State and to provide eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments with a substantial infusion of resources to meet pandemic response needs and rebuild a stronger, and more equitable economy as the country recovers. The funding objectives set by United States Department of Treasury for ARPA funds include:

• Support public health expenditures by funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff.
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector.
• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.
• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors.
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

The City of Kalamazoo was allocated $38,872,877. These funds are required to be allocated by 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. The City has utilized Imagine Kalamazoo as a lens to create and review projects that will make the highest and best use of ARPA funds. Budgeted programs focus on Youth, Safety, Housing, Infrastructure, and Economy. Many of these programs are one-time expenditures. For those expenditures that are on-going, such as personnel expenditures, we are strategically planning for these expenses.

The ARPA fund revenues were originally budgeted as an allocation from the federal government. Updated guidance requires that these dollars be accounted for as a standard grant, where revenues are considered deferred and realized as expenditures are made.

American Rescue Plan - Planned Program Expenditures