Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott announced today that cities, towns and villages should expect additional American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Local Fiscal Recovery (ARPA-LRF) funds over the next several days. The State will disburse another payment of $60.6 million in ARPA-LRF to 276 eligible local governments today, September 2.

“These funds will play an important role for municipalities as we work to build stronger, more resilient communities,” said Governor Scott. “In addition to the historic investments with State ARPA funds that I’ve proposed for climate change mitigation, housing, broadband, water and sewer infrastructure, and more, this municipal money can help strengthen support in these and other critical areas.”

On August 5, Vermont received 50% of the $121 million of funds that the U.S. Treasury originally designated for distribution to the State’s 14 counties. After further review of Vermont’s unique county structure at the urging of the Scott Administration and our Congressional delegation, the federal guidance was revised allowing our municipal governments to take full advantage of the ARPA local recovery funds.

The U.S. Treasury is required to distribute these funds to the states for distribution to local governments in two equal payments. The $60.6 million distributed today represents the first of these two payments. The county funds are distributed to eligible local governments based on the proportion of the municipality’s population to the county population. The average payment of local fiscal recovery funds with today’s disbursements and the separate $29 million distributed in July of this year equates to $150 per resident.

The Vermont League of Cities and Towns and Vermont’s 11 regional planning commissions continue to assist cities, towns and villages with navigating federal rules related to the ARPA-LRF through webinars, a dedicated email address for inquiries, an ARPA resource webpage, in-person and virtual meetings, and steady communication through multiple channels. VLCT and the regional planning commissions will continue to work with all municipalities throughout the award period to ensure they have the resources they will need to successfully plan, execute, and report out on their projects and comply with all requirements of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery funding.

For more information, visit https://finance.vermont.gov/covid-19-guidance.  

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