Residents to help determine how Sacramento County will spend $300 million in federal funds

Sacramento County will receive about $300 million from the federal government in the next year and officials are asking the public to help determine how they spend it.

County officials are surveying the community until the end of the month to gauge where residents think the American Rescue Plan Act money should go.

The county has already received $150 million through the federal law aimed at boosting the economy after the coronavirus pandemic. The second half of the funding will arrive next year.

Unlike the funding through last year’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which had to be spent within a few months, restrictions on the latest $362 billion directed to local municipalities nationwide are less strict. The deadline to spend the funds is December 2024.

However, the county can only direct money to pandemic-related public health expenses, efforts that mitigate economic impacts of COVID-19 and initiatives that serve economically vulnerable people, businesses and communities. The funding can also be used to replace revenue losses due to the pandemic, fund premium pay for essential workers and to improve water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

The county has hired the consultancy Deloitte to help oversee how the funds are tracked and spent. The survey can be accessed at bit.ly/ARPA-survey.

This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 11:37 AM.