DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds requested $222 million in pandemic relief from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) that will allow 930 city governments to access federal funding starting last Friday. The Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund will provide $19.53 billion nationally to support tens of thousands of non-entitlement units of local government (NEUs), which are local governments typically serving a population under 50,000.
$111 million in Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds will be available this fiscal year and an additional $111 million will be in the next fiscal year. Cities have 30 days to submit paperwork to the Iowa Department of Management to receive these federal funds. Cities will also have complete jurisdiction over how this money is spent following compliance with federal guidance and parameters. Information on the application process can be found here.
Before making the request from the federal government, the state of Iowa has worked with hundreds of municipalities and the Iowa League of Cities on pre-spending plans in order to reduce the red tape and ease the administration of the federal funds they will receive. Over one-third of all eligible cities in Iowa have already completed their paperwork to access these funds.
The Department of the Treasury will make payments to each State for distribution to NEUs within each state. Treasury is providing the guidance to assist States with their distribution of these funds to NEUs. That guidance can be found here.
