A FOUR-LETTER WORD

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 went into effect in March 2021 to distribute economic stimulus dollars across the United States in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARPA established the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to provide state, local and Tribal governments with the resources needed to respond to the pandemic and its economic effects and to build a stronger, more equitable economy during the recovery, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The Treasury issued an interim final rule implementing the SLFRF program on May 10, 2021, and has since disbursed more than $240 billion to state, local and Tribal governments.

Kootenai County has been allocated a $32 million share of federal funds through ARPA, to be used for the direct or indirect response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Kootenai County ARPA Task Force is responsible for the review of all project and program requests presented to the county.

Requests for ARPA funding are undergoing evaluation.

Eligible uses of the funds include:

• Revenue replacement for the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to the COVID-19 public health emergency

• COVID-19 expenditures or negative economic impacts of COVID-19, including assistance to small businesses, households and hard-hit industries, and economic recovery

• Premium pay for essential workers

• Investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure

Restrictions on the uses of these funds include:

• Funds allocated to states cannot be used directly or indirectly to offset tax reductions or delay a tax or tax increase

• Funds cannot be deposited into any pension fund

The federal funding allocated to Kootenai County through ARPA will be released in two installments and assigned to projects by the end of 2024.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has floated the possibility of using ARPA dollars to help preserve the health of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

One project under consideration is a stormwater design project near Sanders Beach. It would reduce contaminants in stormwater like petroleum products from cars, E. coli from dog waste, lead and phosphorous from entering the lake.

The project cost, including the engineering agreement, is about $250,000.

Use of the $32 million is available through Dec. 31, 2026.

Kootenai County must administer and expend awarded funds in a manner that complies with the regulations attached to those funds.

Accepting ARPA funds does not obligate the county to do anything beyond that, according to Kootenai County Resource Management Office director Jody Bieze.

Federal laws apply to state, local and municipal governments whether they accept ARPA funding or not, Bieze said.

Executive orders do not apply to state, local and municipal governments. Bieze said accepting ARPA funds does not change this.

The city of Post Falls is estimated to receive $7.48 million in ARPA funding, city administrator Shelly Enderud reported.

"There are four eligible use categories for the funds," she said in a Jan. 13 email to The Press. "City staff ran the calculations and all of the funds that will be received by the city qualify under category No. 3 — due to the fact the city is able to show a greater reduction in revenue than the ARPA funds the city will be receiving."

The Treasury defines Category 3 as: "Providing government services to the extent of revenue loss due to the pandemic."

This calculation is provided through the Government Finance Officers Association, using the criteria provided in the ARPA funds final rule, Enderud said.

The city is able to use the funds for any project the Post Falls City Council desires, as long as the project provides government services or infrastructure/capital.

Metropolitan cities have more reporting requirements than non-entitlement cities. Non-entitlement cities such as Post Falls have populations of 50,000 or fewer.

The reporting rules can be found in the final rule and are pretty standard reporting requirements, Enderud said.

Post Falls city staff will bring the ARPA discussion to the Post Falls City Council in a workshop format in February or March.

The city of Hayden received $1.6 million ARPA dollars in June 2021 and expects to receive a total of $3.1 million with the second payment in June of this year, city administrator Brett Boyer said.

"We have not spent the money yet," he said.

Hayden is waiting for the rules to be published and to go through a process with the public and the Hayden City Council on how to spend the funds.

"We did have some discussion about spending a good amount of it on a sewer project as allowed under the guidelines," Boyer said. "We understand there are concerns on strings being attached to the money. The requirements will be reviewed with the council and with our attorney and staff."

The city of Rathdrum received $900,000 in spring 2021 and is expecting another $900,000 this spring.

"About $1.8 million is what we're expecting total," Rathdrum city administrator Leon Duce said.

He said Rathdrum will configure specific projects for the funds as it goes through its budgeting process.

"It's restricted for use, so we're looking at some water or sewer type projects," he said. "It has to be used in broadband, water or sewer."

No concerns or red flags have been raised by legal counsel regarding these funds. Duce said Rathdrum hasn't decided exactly what project the funds will go to, "it just depends on what the council would like to do with it."

He said Rathdrum will discuss the details this summer.

"We're still reviewing things and making sure we’ve got the type of projects pulled together that would qualify so that when we present it to the council, they can decide what they want to do," Duce said. "It’s a lot of money, you want to make sure you're spending it wisely."

Calls and emails to the city of Dalton Gardens inquiring about ARPA funds were not returned by press time.