The American Rescue Plan is infusing money – lots of money – into communities across the nation, one of the federal government’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the waves of economic havoc it has created over the past several years.
Marley Spencer, a regional project manager who works with Kerr-Tar COG, is someone who can help figure out how to best use the money allocated to various municipalities across the five-county region.
According to Spencer, Vance County is getting roughly $8.5 million in ARPA money; Granville County is set to receive $11.7 million and Franklin County is getting about $13.5 million of the $1.9 trillion – with a T – in ARPA funds.
She discussed with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk some of the short-range and long-range planning that is involved in putting the money to use.
Spencer lends her expertise and training to help local governments to assess their needs, identify assets and infrastructure and then help them execute their plans for the ARPA funds, helping them “connect the dots and stretch those resources,” Spencer said.
The four main categories that municipalities can choose from are revenue replacement, negative COVID impact, premium pay for essential workers and infrastructure project – defined as water and sewer and broadband.
With those categories in mind, she said, municipalities have until December 2024 to designate where they want their share of ARPA funds to go; they have two years to spend the money – it all has to be spent by December 2026.
Simply put, ARPA funds can help municipalities “free up funds that they can use on other things to enhance the community,” Spencer explained.
Down the road, money from the ARPA-funded Rural Transformation Grant also will be available to “enhance communities, revitalize downtowns and strengthen neighborhoods.”
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