ARPA ACT BUDGET AND SPENDING GUIDANCE 20210804.PDF

Maricopa County
ARPA Act Budget and Spending Guidelines
August 4, 2021
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide direction from the Board of Supervisors to Elected Officials,
the Judicial Branch, the County Manager, and all Departments and Districts (Flood Control, Library and
Stadium) so that the American Rescue Plan Act funding received from the Federal Government in response
to the COVID 19 pandemic is budgeted and spent in accordance with requirements while achieving the
County’s mission during this emergency.
Background
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was enacted that established the Coronavirus
State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and appropriated $350 billion to the federal fund. County
allocations were allocated $65.1 billion. A portion of this funding was directed to Maricopa County
directly as a unit of government ($871,239,088 paid in two tranches of $435,619,544). Maricopa County
has created Fund 296 (Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund) to manage the budget and expenditures of this
one time, grant-like funding. The County has also formed a ARPA Act Funding Coordination Team (called
“Coordination Team” throughout this guidance) to assist the Board of Supervisors manage and track the
funding. In addition, a Reporting Committee has been formed to review and gather the required reporting
requirements for the annual performance and quarterly project and expenditure reports.
Requirements
The ARPA Act provides a broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their
communities.
1. Support public health expenditures, by 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, 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 borne
and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors;
and,
5. Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve
access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to
expand access to broadband internet.
Specifically prohibited at this time, are the use of these funds to fund reductions in net tax revenue (States
only), deposits into pension funds (recipients may use funds for routine payroll contributions to pensions
of employees whose wages and salaries are an eligible use), debt service, legal settlements/judgments,
and rainy day funds.
Funding Requests and Tracking
Expenditures that clearly meet the requirements, i.e. are above budgeted allocation and called out as an
example of appropriate use of ARPA Act Funding:

• All ARPA COVID-19 expenditures and revenue will follow tracking mechanisms established in
the Financial System, specifically reporting codes and program codes.
• The Coordination Team and the Department of Finance will assist departments in establishing
the appropriate grant-set up in the Advantage Financial system. Fund 296 (Coronavirus Fiscal
Recovery Fund) has been created to track the ARPA expenditures and revenues.
• All expenditures (journal vouchers, invoices, and payroll) must be accompanied by a “ARPA
Funding Expenditure Verification” form which will be retained as an official record with the
normal documentation of financial transactions.
• ARPA payroll costs will also be accompanied by a “COVID-19 Employee Payroll Certification
Form”.
• Departments will able to use Journal Vouchers and establish purchase orders in the new grant
fund for expenditures.
• Capital expenditures (using 9000 series object codes) and purchase orders over $25,000
require approval prior to processing. The Coordination Team will collect and facilitate
approvals through the County Manager and Chairman’s Office.
• The Office of Procurement Services will review purchase orders to the grant fund and will
bring compliance concerns to the Coordination Team for review and approval.
• The Coordination Team will develop budget adjustment agenda items for the Board of
Supervisors consideration for the grant funds quarterly.
• The Reporting Committee will gather the required reporting elements and metrics for the
annual performance and quarterly project and expenditure reports.
Expenditures that likely meet the requirements will be considered and require approval prior to expending
funds in the grant fund:
• Departments will submit ARPA funding request forms for requests for funding.
• The Coordination Team will receive requests for funding and will consolidate and coordinate
with the Chairman’s Office regarding disbursals for requests.
o Requests under $100,000 are subject to approval by the County Manager.
o Requests of $100,000 and above require approval by the Board of Supervisors.
• Requests should include information:
o Project Name & Identification Number
o Expenditure category as defined in the Treasury “Compliance and Reporting Guidance
for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds”
o Project description and the nature of the expenditure or program and how it meets
the requirements of eligible funding
o Estimated Time Period
o Estimated forecast of expenditures, including timing and amount
o Project demographic distribution
o Potential other funding sources
o Key Performance Indicator metrics for reporting
• Upon approval, the above tracking and process will be in force.
Auditing and Reconciliation
Expenditures and budgets will be reconciled, adjusted and audited continually to ensure compliance with
documentation and requirements of the funding as they are released and updated.