Submitted By: Peter Brill
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Presentation By: Tammi Haslam
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Department: Finance
STAFF RECOMMENDATION (Motion Ready):
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Adopt Budget Resolution 2023-144 amending the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget to appropriate and transfer funds from the American Rescue Plan Act Reserves in the amount of $5,142,323
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OCALA'S RELEVANT STRATEGIC GOALS:
Fiscally Sustainable
PROOF OF PUBLICATION:
N/A
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BACKGROUND:
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed. This act provides for specific funding allocations directly to state, local, and municipal government agencies. The total allocation for the City of Ocala was $12,202,141. The funds were scheduled for disbursement with fifty percent, $6,101,070.50, received on June 1, 2021, and the remaining fifty percent in June 2022. Recovery funds must be obligated (not incurred) by December 31, 2024, and all work and/or services completed by December 31, 2026. The State of Florida also distributed $41,253 to the City in December 2022 and February 2023, which must be appropriated in the budget.
The ARPA provides that funding may be used to:
1) Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff.
2) Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, nonprofits, impacted industries, and the public sector.
3) Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.
4) 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.
5) Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking...
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