Vermont towns, cities to receive federal American Rescue Plan funds this week

Governor Phil Scott announced Tuesday, Aug. 10, that that cities, towns and villages expecting to receive American Rescue Plan Act Local Fiscal Recovery (ARPA-LRF) funds should receive their payments in the next few days. The state disbursed the first payment of $29 million in ARPA-LRF to 274 eligible local governments on Aug. 9.

As the result of grants of state fiscal recovery ARPA funds to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) and Vermont’s 11 regional planning commissions, the administration has benefited from coordinated outreach to eligible communities over the course of the last several months. Every municipality responded through the certification process within a very short timeline to ensure a speedy disbursement of the funds.

“These local recovery funds, and the additional county money that has been reallocated to our cities, towns and villages, provides an incredible opportunity for the state to team with local partners to make transformative investments,” said Gov. Scott. “My administration looks forward to working with our many partners, including the VLCT and the regional planning commissions, to maximize ARPA funds on critical housing, broadband, water and sewer infrastructure, climate change initiatives and economic growth that builds us a strong foundation for our future.”

The U.S. Treasury is required to distribute these funds to the states for distribution to local governments in two equal payments. The $29 million distributed this week represents the first of these two payments, or 50% of the total $58 million of local funds. Funds are distributed to eligible cities, towns and villages based on a formula established in ARPA, so long as the award does not exceed 75% of the municipality’s budget in effect on Jan. 27, 2020.

The VLCT and Vermont’s 11 regional planning commissions have also assisted cities, towns and villages with navigating federal rules related to the ARPA-LRF through webinars, a dedicated email address for inquiries, an ARPA resource webpage, in-person and virtual meetings, and steady communication through multiple channels.

VLCT and the regional planning commissions will continue to work with all municipalities throughout the award period to ensure they have the resources they will need to successfully plan, execute and report out on their projects and comply with all requirements of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funding.

On Aug. 5, Vermont also received over $60 million in funds which will be distributed to the same 274 municipalities, as well as Burlington and South Burlington, within the next 30 days.

This amount represents 50% of the $121 million of county funds to be redistributed to municipalities due to a special rule established in ARPA that redirects county funds to units of general local government that have limited government purposes, such as in Vermont.

Payments will be processed over the next several weeks and no additional action is required from municipalities.

For more information, visit finance.vermont.gov/covid-19-guidance.