Two years after ARPA was enacted, almost 70% of cities have committed their allotments

At the pandemic’s height two years ago, American cities and counties were facing an uncertain future. Nationally, reported daily cases had peaked at more than 1 million, and renewed lockdown orders threatened to stifle the economy as it was re-emerging from a year marked by the onset of COVID-19.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law last March, provided much more than $350 billion in necessary fiscal aid to floundering local, state and tribal governments—it paved a path beyond lockdown orders and social anxiety, letting local administrators build for the future. A new collaborative report from Brookings Metro, the National League of Cities (NLC), and the National Association of Counties (NACo) documents how 329 large cities and counties have prioritized expending their combined $65 billion federal allocation.

As of September, the tracked metros had committed 68% of their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) dollars to 8,825 projects, an increase of 17% from the 7,537 projects that were reported in June. Of those, 34 counties, and 29 large cities and consolidated city-counties had committed 100% of their fiscal shares. Notably, 79% of large cities and consolidated city-counties have budgeted their allotments, compared to 59% of counties.

“This faster pace may be due to large cities/consolidated city-counties’ decision to devote a greater share of their budgeted SLFRF dollars (57%) to revenue replacement as compared to large counties (37%),” the report says.

To read the complete article, visit American City & County.