On August 3, 2021, the Board of Supervisors participated in an open session workshop on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). ARPA was signed into law on March 11, 2021 by President Biden. The ARPA is a broad and far-reaching funding package totaling $1.9 Trillion, which provides direct stimulus to taxpayers, advances on child tax credit payments, direct allocations to State and Local governments as well as a myriad of funding augmentations and competitive grant programs administered by federal agencies. A summary of the ARPA, including national funding figures, is included as Attachment A for reference. The Board directed the County Administrator to provide ARPA revenue and expenditure updates on a quarterly basis.
In preparation for the August 3, 2021 presentation to the Board, the County Administrator identified $317,327,304 in known ARPA revenue coming to the County. Of that $317 million, $127,606,231 had been received by the County, which is composed of two of the largest funding streams that will impact the County; specifically, the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF) in the amount of $112,029,451, and a second allocation of $15,576,780 of Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds. The second tranche of CSLFRF will be distributed to the County in May 2022.
In addition to CSLFRF, County departments identified $71,605,012 of Emergency Rental Assistance Program 2 (ERAP 2) allocation, $12,000,000 of HOME Investment Partnerships allocation, $3,355,250 of ARPA Funding for Health Centers allocation, $2,508,139 of Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) allocation, $2,300,000 of ARPA Head Start allocation and $1,500,000 of ARPA Public Health workforce grant funds. The Board approved the appropriation and allocation of the $112 million of Year 1 CSLFRF funding to the Health Services Department to defray the cost impacts of COVID-19 response activities within the County. A decision on the use of Year 2 (second tranche) CSLFRF funding was delayed until a future date.
This agenda item will provide the Board of Supervisors and the public the first quarterly update on American Rescue Plan Act revenues and expenditures as directed by the Board, which is summarized in Attachment B. Through September 30, 2021, County departments have received the following additional ARPA funding commitments:
- Employment and Human Services Department - $4,694,377
- Health Services Department - $2,604,182, and
- Department of Conservation and Development - $90,215.
These additional commitments are $7,386,708 more than specified in the report to the Board and public on August 3, 2021. It is anticipated that more ARPA allocations will be made over the next several quarters.
Through September 30, 2021, County departments have made the following expenditures of ARPA funding:
- CAO-ERAP- $71,605,012 to the state for rental assistance services, and
- Health Services Department- $20,948,824 for pandemic responses.
Through September 30, 2021, Contra Costa County has spent $92,553,836 of received or anticipated ARPA funding. This is approximately 48.5% of the revenue known at this time.
The next quarterly ARPA report will be provided on the Board's consent agenda on March 1, 2022.
The current and anticipated expenses related to COVID-19 and the timeliness of financial reporting would be absent input from the Board of Supervisors.
Speakers: resident of Contra Costa County.