American Rescue Plan Process
Over the last several months staff has worked with the Board of Supervisors to develop a plan for expending Yolo County’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. To achieve this, staff have developed an approach and process to ensure that dollars are being spent appropriately and are invested in projects that have meaningful impact in the community.
One of the first steps in this process was developing a set of principles that would guide the allocation of ARP dollars and ensure that the Board's vision is instituted when evaluating ARP requests. This set of guiding principles, approved by the Board on March 23, 2021, was developed in concert with federal ARP eligibility requirements and the County's Strategic Plan 2020-2025 (Attachment A). Below is a summary of the Board's guiding principles and ARP eligibility requirements:
ARP Guiding Principles:
- One-Time Funding – there is no expectation that these funds would recur in the future and they shall be treated as one time rather than to fund on-going commitments.
- Nexus to Pandemic – to comply with federal funding restrictions, a nexus to the pandemic should be clearly demonstrated. This may include:
- Pre-existing gaps – Circumstances that existed prior to the pandemic, but the impacts or negative outcomes are exacerbated by the pandemic.
- Direct Impacts – Things that are necessary to respond to the present and immediate impacts associated with the pandemic. This may be characterized as disaster response.
- Recovery – Items that improve or accelerate the County's recovery from COVID-19 or better prepare the County for future disasters.
- Needs Based/Data Informed – project or programs funding requests should contain a demonstrated need and available data must be provided to properly align the funding with the need.
- Maximize Opportunity –The County should partner to the extent possible (with Cities, State, or other agencies) to create or support broader regional programs to stretch the impact of total funding within the County.
- Avoid Duplication – Significant disaster funding has been approved at the State and Federal Level. The County should not duplicate funding unless the need shows current funding is inadequate to meet that need.
- Prioritize Transformational Projects – The County should prioritize projects or programs that may be transformational in solving challenges or enhance the County's ability to serve constituents.
- Linkage to the Strategic Plan - The County should accelerate goals included in the Strategic Plan that have a nexus to COVID-19 and are appropriate to fund.
Eligible Uses of ARP Funds:
- Respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency through expenditures such as: COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff;
- Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector;
- Provide government services by replacing lost public sector revenue, to supplement the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic;
- Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors;
- Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.
Once the initial parameters were established for use of ARP funds, staff began two parallel processes: first, to receive input passively through the submission of proposals via the County website from both internal and external sources; and second, to receive input proactively from interested parties throughout the County through a series of community workshops. In total, 180 proposals have been received by staff as of September 1, 2021, with total funding requests of approximately $275 million. Some proposal requests were reduced from previously submitted versions and an effort was made to eliminate any duplicate requests. The full list of proposals may be found in Attachment B of this staff report.
Throughout July 2021, staff held several community workshops to gather input regarding the County’s use of ARP funds. These workshops drew 200+ participants from across the county, including both rural and urban areas. The purpose of these community workshops was to inform the public about local ARP funds and eligibility requirements, allow for public feedback regarding the ARP process, and to develop broad categories of interest from the community that would inform staff and the Board as the ARP expenditure plan was developed.
Staff Recommendation/Board Workshop
These robust public engagement activities will culminate with the Board of Supervisors ARP workshop on September 7, 2021. At this meeting, staff will provide the Board with a brief update on the overall ARP process, review the eligibility requirements for ARP funding, and present recommended funding allocations. The draft expenditure plan, presented below, reflects the Board's vision, public input, and is aligned with the guiding principles and the County's Strategic Plan 2020-2025.
Recommended ARP Funding Allocations
| ARP Priority Category |
Activities |
Amount |
| Housing/Homeless to Functional Zero |
Increased permanent and transitional housing, farm worker housing, programming, and planning for paying ongoing case worker supports |
$7,500,000 |
| Food Security |
Infrastructure investments and supports to combat food insecurity. |
$3,500,000 |
| Child, Youth and Family |
Health equity, 0-5, behavioral health, upstream investments, childcare, internships, home visiting |
$7,500,000 |
| Mental Health |
Coordinate response and utilization of varied funding streams |
$500,000 |
| Community Parks & Facilities |
County parks and facilities in rural areas |
$3,000,000 |
| Total |
$22,000,000 |
| Strategic Plan Implementation |
Activities |
Amount |
| Climate Action Implementation |
The County’s Climate Action Plan is being developed; this would be a set aside for implementing projects identified through that process |
$1,000,000 |
| Economic Development Plan/Activities |
Development of an Economic Development plan to serve rural and disadvantaged areas and funds for implementation |
$500,000 |
| Aging Needs |
Emergency-related supports for seniors |
$100,000 |
| Broadband Strategic Plan Implementation |
Set aside funding specifically for Broadband and to leverage toward State funding opportunities |
$1,000,000 |
| Water/Wastewater Infrastructure |
Planning to leverage State funding in disadvantaged and rural areas |
$1,000,000 |
| Total |
$3,600,000 |
| Priority Projects |
Activities |
Amount |
| Esparto Health Center |
Medical and dental services for an underserved community |
$1,000,000 |
| Crisis Now |
Funding for implementation of 24/7 Crisis Now service |
$3,000,000 |
| Total |
$4,000,000 |
| Other Funding Uses |
Activities |
Amount |
| Revenue Reimbursement |
Can be used for general government expenses or projects that are not eligible for ARP funds |
$5,000,000 |
| COVID Response |
Set aside for current and future COVID-19 emergency response needs |
$2,000,000 |
| ARP Staffing |
Staffing to support ARP projects and ensure execution. Recommended are a program lead and fiscal support, along with consultants, as necessary |
$2,000,000 |
| Reserve |
Funds held in reserve for emerging needs during the ARP plan time horizon. Board can appropriate as needs arise. |
$4,200,000 |
| Total |
$13,200,000 |
| Total Recommended ARP Funding Allocations |
$42,800,000 |
After presentation of staff’s recommendation at the workshop, the Board will have an opportunity to deliberate and find areas of consensus and provide direction in areas where the recommended plan may need to be modified. Staff view the ARP plan as a living document and expect that after an initial plan is approved, there will still need to be continual review and updates over the time horizon for which ARP funds can be expended. Furthermore, Board direction will ultimately guide the next steps as they relate to the Board’s budget hearing on September 28, 2021, where it is expected ARP funds would be appropriated. |