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Contact: Steve Kelso
PH: (616) 202-8376 (mobile)
EM: steve.kelso@kentcountymi.gov
Kent County Board of Commissioners Awards ARPA Funding to 30 Projects
Approved Projects Will Have Broad and Transformational Impact
Grand Rapids (Dec. 1, 2022) - The Kent County Board of Commissioners today awarded funding to 30 projects that draw on the $127.6 million Kent County received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In total, more than $108 million was allocated in this round of funding.
“The projects approved today exemplify the kind of broad-reaching, impactful initiatives that we as a board envisioned and the community called for in our ARPA funding engagement process,” said Kent County Board of Commissioners Chair Stan Stek. “We invested in initiatives ranging from expanding access to behavioral health services, to increasing lead remediation programs, to helping curb domestic violence, to creating loans for affordable housing developments, to deploying 800 MHz radio consoles in every K-12 school building to increase communication in emergencies.”
The spending plan will fund a total of 30 projects, including:
Click here to review the proposals for the approved projects.
“I am incredibly proud of the time the board put into reviewing more than 300 proposals, evaluating the transformational impact of each proposal, and then coming together to address some of the most critical needs facing our community,” concluded Stek. “These projects will undoubtedly have a generational impact throughout Kent County.”
County staff will begin working on contractual terms with the approved proposal submitters as stipulated in Board Resolution 12-01-22-121 and required for compliance with U.S. Treasury rules.
About ARPA
ARPA was signed into law in March of 2021 to provide financial assistance to eligible state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to aid in the public health and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to review a summary of the eligible and ineligible use for ARPA dollars.
ARPA Community Engagement Process
In May 2022, the Board of Commissioners launched a comprehensive community engagement process to help identify the community’s greatest needs. Related activities included the launch of an interactive website, six community forums, 33 meetings with leaders from disproportionately impacted communities; an online survey; and an online portal to submit funding requests.
In the end, 319 community proposals and 13 internal proposals were submitted for funding consideration. Every proposal was reviewed by the County’s external consultant –Guidehouse – and provided a ranking based on eligibility, sustainability, and feasibility per U.S. Treasury rules. The full proposal catalog can be found at KentCountyARPA.com.
ARPA Allocations
The remaining funds will be placed in a contingency fund for unanticipated needs or new/increased expenses to complete a funded proposal. All ARPA funding commitments must be allocated by Dec. 31, 2024, but the County has until December 2026 to spend the funds.
Below are the Board resolutions for each of these allocations/encumbrances.
Stay Connected
Visit KentCountyARPA.com to sign-up for updates on the County’s ARPA process.
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