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American Rescue Plan

On March 15, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. signed into law the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 (the "American Rescue Plan"). The latest COVID-19 stimulus package provides approximately $1.9 trillion in spending to address the continued impact of the pandemic. Within the ARP, the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund provides $350 billion for states, municipalities, counties, tribes, and territories, including $130 billion for local governments split evenly between municipalities and counties.

Based on the initial information that has been provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Village of Pinecrest is expecting to receive an allocation from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund in the amount of $8,049,357. The anticipated allocation is based on a population estimate from 2019. The allocation which must be spent by December 31, 2024, may only be used for the following purposes:

(A) to respond to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality;

(B) to respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID–19 public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers of the metropolitan city, nonentitlement unit of local government, or county that are performing such essential work, or by providing grants to eligible employers that have eligible workers who perform essential work;

(C) for the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue of such metropolitan city, nonentitlement unit of local government, or county due to the COVID–19 public health emergency relative to revenues collected in the most recent full fiscal year of the metropolitan city, nonentitlement unit of local government, or county prior to the emergency; or

(D) to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.

Just one day after the signing of the ARP, the Village Council held a Strategic Planning Workshop on March 16, 2021 during which members discussed Pinecrests anticipated allotment. The Village Councils general consensus was that funds should be used to address categories C and D, as categories A and B were already addressed previously with funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)

Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the CARES Act provided the Village with $1,040,556.35. Those funds were used to reimburse the Village for COVID related expenses, provide hazard pay increases for police officers (Category B), provide rent abatement grants for businesses and impacted industries (Category A), and offer online marketing training for businesses to assist in economic recovery efforts (Category A).

Further discussions and decisions regarding the use of the ARP allotment specifically for category C, replacement of lost revenue and category D, new water infrastructure will take place during future scheduled meetings to be held on April 13, May 11 and June 8, 2021.