American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is a $1.9 trillion federal aid package passed by Congress in March to provide financial aid to families, governments, businesses, schools, non-profits and others impacted by the pandemic.

Of that $1.9 trillion, $350 billion is going to state and local governments as part of the Fiscal Recovery Fund.

The City of Springfield received just over $40 million in ARPA funds.

The state of Missouri will receive about $2.7 billion. Greene County will receive about $56.9 million.

Funds must be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

Cities can use ARPA funds to:

Respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts;
Provide premium pay to eligible workers;
For the provision of governmental services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to COVID-19; and
Invest in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.

Cities cannot use ARPA funds to:

Offset a reduction in taxes;
For deposits into pension funds;
To fund debt service;
To fund legal settlements or judgments;
For deposits into rainy-day funds or financial reserves.

Oct. 11, 2022 update

July 25, 2022 update

City Council allocates $31.3M in ARPA funding requests

June 29, 2022 update

ARPA Project Request spreadsheet

April 19, 2022 update

HUD Homeless Funding presentation
Revenue Loss document
Requested projects spreadsheet
Transformative Growth Package booklet distributed to the Missouri General Assembly
ARPA requests document

March 30, 2022 update

Interim report

March 2, 2022 update

The City has received funding requests from the following organizations/projects:

Isabel's House Crisis Nursery
West Meadows
Citywide beautification/landscaping
Freeway Ministries for addiction recovery services
Free campground with resources available to assist those experiencing homelessness
Springfield Animal Advocacy Foundation for spay/neuter services

Download requests for funding (PDF)

Dec. 3, 2021 update

Funding allocated by City Council

Retention Pay for Police, Fire and Health employees resolution approved at the Nov. 15, 2021 City Council meeting. It is anticipated that an ordinance will come to City Council soon to stay on the timeline for this expenditure in early 2022.
Health pandemic response $8M ordinance was approved Aug. 23, 2021.

This is considered funding of last resort, as the City continues to seek out and utilize federal, state and other grant funds for pandemic relief. These funds are fully set aside for the pandemic response in accordance with the Council-approved ordinance. What is not utilized in this year’s budget will be rolled forward to future budget years. It is not known at this time exactly what amount will be needed for future pandemic response. If the $8 million set aside is not sufficient, additional funds may be requested, or a portion may be returned to the ARPA committee for other priority needs prior to the deadline for expenditure in 2026.

Public engagement / input

The City completed its surveying and presented the results to the Council ARPA Committee and the community.

Greene County also completed their survey and shared their survey results and their needs assessment report to the public.

Additional information

CFO ARPA Report and Presentation from Sept. 14, 2021 Council ARPA Committee meeting
ARPA initial presentation and binder from the June 24, 2021 City Council retreat

Next steps

Once the ordinance detailing the retention pay amount is finalized and approved by City Council at an upcoming City Council meeting, remaining available ARPA funds will be known. The retention pay funding, combined with the $8 million set aside for the Health Department’s pandemic response will determine the remaining balance available for projects.

The City continues to receive funding requests for projects and details are included a draft spreadsheet of potential projects for ARPA funding.

The City is seeking a joint meeting(s) with Greene County on common priorities as they are also likely receiving similar requests for community projects. When a schedule for upcoming ARPA committee meetings is known, it will be published on the Springfield ARPA Website and noticed through proper channels.