American Rescue Plan Act

McLeod County has been allocated approximately $6.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds through the United States Department of Treasury.  The McLeod County Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Committee has been tasked with interpreting funding and making recommendations to the County Board.  In addition to County funds, McLeod County cities have been allocated an estimated total funding amount of $2,479,340.00 with townships having been allocated an estimated total funding amount of $1,048,730.00.  In total, an estimated $10,499,864.00 of funds have been allocated to McLeod County, its cities and its townships.

<sup>FIVE PRIMARY WAYS THAT ARPA FUNDS CAN BE UTILIZED:SUPPORT PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE:
Fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare and certain public health and safety staff.
ADDRESS NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACTS:
Respond to economic harms to workers, families, small businesses, and nonprofits, or impacted industries and re-hiring of public sector workers.
REPLACE PUBLIC SECTOR REVENUE LOSS:
Use funds to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.
PREMIUM PAY FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS:
Offer additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure  Funds can be used retroactively back to January 27, 2020.
WATER, SEWER AND BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE:
Make necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, invest in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and provide unserved or underserved locations with new or expanded broadband access.

TIMELINE:April 30, 2022: All Non-Entitlement Units (NEUs), or local government units typically serving populations of less than 50,000, must submit a Project Expenditure Report to Minnesota Management and Budget (and annually thereafter).
December 31, 2024: All funds must be allocated/committed.
December 31, 2026: All funds must be spent on allocated costs.</sup>

Helpful Resources:

• Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) : www.mntownships.org
• League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) : www.lmc.org
• Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) : www.mncounties.org
• United States Department of Treasurer : home.treasury.gov
• Minnesota management and Budget (MMB) : mn.gov/mmb/
• National Association of Counties (NACO) : naco.org
• National League of Cities (NLC) : nlc.org
• National Association of Towns and Townships (NATAT) : natat.org

On October 06, 2021, McLeod County hosted two informational presentations with cities and townships on the American Rescue Plan Act.

You may view the presentation materials here.






"Wheat" Photo by Polina Rytova on Unsplash