American Rescue Plan Act Funds, City of Urbana
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was passed in March of 2021 to provide relief to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One significant component of this law was the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, which allocated relief funds to state, local, and tribal governments.
In the words of the Treasury Department -
The SLFRF program provides governments across the country with the resources needed to:
- Fight the pandemic and support families and businesses struggling with its public health and economic impacts
- Maintain vital public services, even amid declines in revenue resulting from the crisis
- Build a strong, resilient, and equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity
As a result of this program, the City of Urbana has been allocated $12.97 million to address the impacts of the pandemic. The city has contracted with Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) to perform the planning and administration of these funds. This process has three primary steps—performing background research and developing a list of priorities, developing a concept plan for distributing this money, and implementing the plan.
The purpose of this website is to
- Keep residents informed on the allocation process for these funds
- Allow residents to provide feedback on where ARPA funds should go
- Provide a place where eligible local entities can easily apply for part of this funding, once the city’s priorities are set
The Process page provides a brief summary of the City of Urbana’s process for allocating ARPA funds, while the Concept Plan provides extensive information on the city’s ARPA priorities, what the federal ARPA program is, existing local context that informed the allocation process, public outreach and engagement to deterimine the priorities. After the Concept Plan was approved in late summer of 2022, the funding Application opened for a two-month span from September to November 2022, during which 48 funding applications were submitted. Now that all applications have been received, the Allocation page will provide updates on how ARPA funds are dispersed.
Process
Below, you will find the tentative schedule by which the Urbana ARPA planning process is operating - Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 Background Research and Synthesis of Priorities Compile information on ARPA regulations, existing city priorities, and gaps in existing priorities Collect additional input from Urbana residents to refine ARPA priorities Set up website for ongoing ARPA documentation Work with City to finalize priorities eligible for ARPA funding Spring 2022 – Fall 2022 Develop Concept Plan
Concept Plan
This concept plan has been drafted to guide how the City of Urbana spends its allocation of American Rescue Plan (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). The sections of the Concept Plan can be found in the links below, or in the Concept Plan dropdown in the menu at the top of this page.
Application
The application period for Urbana ARPA funds has closed! If you wish to see the information and resources that were available during the application period (Friday, September 16th, 2022 to Wednesday, November 16th, 2022), these are still available below. The city is seeking applications for organizations that will provide services meeting the Urbana ARPA Funding Goals. Rather than households or businesses seeking individual assistance, applicants should be organizations who will use the funds to facilitate one of the funding goals.
Allocation
The Mayor and Urbana City Council have reviewed the applications submitted for ARPA funding. After reviewing project applications, presentations, federal regulations, and the City of Urbana’s ARPA Concept Plan, 25 projects have been selected to receive funds. This allocation awards $9,949,343 in total. Upon the City’s official adoption of a project list, the City and sub-recipients will enter into contracts and intergovernmental agreements, with finalized dates, funding timelines, and project-specific terms and conditions.