• By Todd Luck
• Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Forsyth County Commissioners to vote on final ARPA funding

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will consider funding requests for the County’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds during its meeting at 2 p.m. on Sept. 22.

Forsyth County Commissioners’ meetings are held at the Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut St. They are also live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and the county’s website. If approved by commissioners, this is expected to be the final allocation of the $74 million in federal APRA funds that Forsyth County Government received.

Staff has been reviewing requests from departments and community organizations for funding, which must be allocated following federal guidelines. The commissioners are expected to allocate the final $22.7 million in ARPA funds on Thursday, which includes funding for County projects, local non-profits and for additional revenue loss from the pandemic.

For a list of specific projects being considered in the commissioners’ consensus proposal, click here. For a description of all ARPA Round 2 funding requests, click here.

Commissioners allocated a total of $52.4 million in the first round of allocations. They approved $18.2 million to offset revenue loss due to the pandemic, which will be allocated over the next three years for the Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Services. They also approved $7.2 million for premium pay for eligible County workers who performed essential work during the pandemic.

During ARPA Round One, the County accepted applications from departments and local organizations requesting funding. These were reviewed by staff to ensure projects met federal guidelines and the commissioners approved more than $27 million to fund 34 projects that addressed a variety of issues including gun violence reduction, education, workforce development, public health and behavioral health. For a full list of funded Round One projects, click here.

So far, $9.5 million of the approved ARPA funds have been disbursed and that amount is expected to double by the end of the month. Funds are expected to be disbursed faster in Round 2, as all organizations were required to attend information sessions in order to better understand the requirements for complying with federal guidelines before applying.

Visit Winston-Salem, Creative Center for North Carolina and Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership have withdrawn their Round One applications, so the $1.8 million that was allocated for their projects is being re-allocated in the second round.

Due to ARPA’s updated revenue loss calculations, the County’s revenue loss from the pandemic is now calculated to be $27.1 million creating an additional $8.9 million the commissioners can appropriate. The additional funds are expected to be used in case there are projects that withdraw, don’t fully expend their full appropriation, extend past the grant deadline or have significant compliance burdens. Covering these possibilities with revenue loss funds will allow the County to close out its ARPA grant earlier, without having to send money back to the federal government.

For more information about Forsyth County’s ARPA funding, visit https://www.forsyth.cc/erap/arpa.aspx