Commissioners to finalize ARPA spending

About $80 million left from federal pandemic aid

Oakland County has just under $80 million left from the original American Rescue Plan Act payment, made to support communities during the pandemic. Federal rules require state, county and local governments to allocate the money to specific projects by Dec. 31, 2024. The money must be spent by the end of 2026 or the county must return it to the federal government.

The rules also limit how the remaining $79.8 million can be spent fighting the pandemic; supporting families and businesses affected by COVID-19 and its economic impacts; maintaining vital public services; and investing in long-term projects for recovery and longterm growth opportunities.

The county commission's

Democratic members will meet on Thursday to talk about priorities, which will then be discussed in committee meetings before a vote by the whole board.

The meeting is at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the commissioners' committee room at 1200 N. Telegraph Road is open to the public. Residents have two opportunities to say what they think spending priorities should be.

The commission's chairman, Dave Woodward, said the proposed spending may change before the full commission's final vote.

The largest allocation is $24 million to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic. This money would pay for overtime costs related to the pandemic for health workers and law enforcement.

“We spent that money to respond to acute needs at the time, but never put the money back in the treasury,” he said.

Some of the allocations on the draft would go to programs for matching grant opportunities.

“We want to stretch these dollars as much as possible and evaluate how we can create systematic change,” he said.