The Linn County Board of Supervisors today awarded the second round of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars it received from the federal government. ARPA funding is meant to speed up the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Board of Supervisors had $13 million to award in Round 2 and funding requests that exceed $75 million. Round 2 applicants included 72 new applications in addition to the 53 eligible applications that were received in Round 1 but not funded. All 125 applicants were competing for the limited funding.
The Board of Supervisors awarded Round 2 ARPA funding to the following organizations for affordable housing, social services, public health, capital investments, and negative economic impacts from COVID-19 (Category A) and water and sewer infrastructure projects (Category D):
Category A
- Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success We're Not Playing: $650,000
- African American Museum Voices Inspiring Progress: $333,000
- Cedar Rapids Public Library Westside Library and Opportunity Center: $4,000,000
- City of Alburnett Repurpose Former Fire Station into City Hall: $141,450
- Horizons: A Family Service Alliance New Iowan Collaborative-Transportation: $64,000
- Indian Creek Nature Center Education Expansion: $250,000
- LBA Foundation Refugee & Immigrant Center Youth Navigator: $111,435
- Linn County Advocate Fostering Thriving Communities: $389,120
- Linn County Board of Supervisors Linn County Grant Program for Kirkwood Community College Scholarships: $1,000,000
- Linn County Community Action Fund Youth Leadership: $66,700
- Linn County Sheriff's Office COVID-19 Mitigation Cell Blocks: $1,700,000
- Linn County Sustainability Director of Resiliency Operations: $363,389
- Linn County Public Health Mobile Clinic: $625,000
- Linn County Treasurer Protective Glass: $227,500
- Lisbon/Mt. Vernon Ambulance Service Building Addition and Renovation: $112,500
- Refugee and Immigrant Center Together We Can Initiative: $10,000
- Mercy Medical Center Hospital Enhanced Infection Control: $750,000
- Mirrorbox Theatre A Home for New Plays: $50,000
- Salvation Army Disaster Services Hub & Food Distribution: $65,880
- Tanager Place Clinic Safety, Security, & Accessibility: $213,000
- Trees Forever Tree Canopy Restoration: $100,000
- Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association Finding New and Neat Ways to Connect: $5,600
Category D
- City of Ely Drinking Water Treatment Facility: $1,000,000
- City of Hiawatha Water Main Upgrades: $310,000
- City of Marion Sanitary Sewer Project 6: $150,000
- City of Springville Sanitary Sewer Extension: $250,000
- Linn County Planning & Development Well and Irrigation Infrastructure: $41,000
Total Funding Round 2 (includes Category A and D): $12,979,574
“I am proud of the work County staff and Supervisors put into reviewing over 200 applications for ARPA funding. We balanced rural and urban needs and helped to bolster critical non-profit service providers in the community,” Linn County Board of Supervisors Chair Ben Rogers said.
“This has been an incredible process. The Board really came together and worked to ensure the most critical projects in our community received the vital resources they needed to be successful,” Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker said. “We invested in initiatives ranging from tuition assistance to help county residents attend community college, to rural community infrastructure, to sustainability and resiliency efforts. All in all, our community will be made stronger because this Board found consensus around our most pressing needs.”
“Although the funding didn’t come out exactly as I had hoped, good compromises came out of our discussion during our Board meeting today and we were able to fund some important community needs,” Supervisor Louie Zumbach said.
Previous ARPA Funding
Linn County received a total of $44 million in ARPA funding in two installments. Round 1 funding included $11 million for lost revenue and administrative costs incurred by Linn County and $11 million that Linn County awarded 39 applicants through a competitive application process in first half of 2022. The 39 applicants included other local governments and nonprofits. The $11 million awarded during Round 1 was split with $5.5 million going toward affordable housing, social services, public health, capital investments, and negative economic impacts from COVID-19 (Category A) and $5.5 million went toward water and sewer infrastructure projects in Linn County (Category D).
View Round 1 Funded Applicants
Local jurisdictions like Linn County are not required to distribute ARPA funding to other entities. Linn County has chosen to make ARPA funding available to other local jurisdictions and nonprofits through a competitive application process, which is allowed, but not required, by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Linn County and the City of Cedar Rapids collaborated on an online application for ARPA funding to make it easier for local applicants to apply for the funds.
About the American Rescue Plan Act
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. It is meant to speed up the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding package builds upon the CARES Act from March 2020 and its extension in December 2020. ARPA provides a total of $350 billion in assistance for eligible state and local governments to respond to the economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more on the U.S. Department of Treasury website.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up