Hilary Angelusi, the staff member presenting the American Rescue Plan Act annual update to the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council on Oct. 14, said the city has obligated and largely expensed its ARPA allocation, with about $3,600,000 remaining to spend before federal deadlines.

Angelusi told the council Lexington received an allocation of approximately $121,000,000 in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under ARPA. Through August the city had expensed $117,500,000, or roughly 97% of those funds, and reached 100% obligation in November 2024. She said the Department of the Treasury’s deadline for full expenditure is Dec. 31, 2026, and the city is targeting an earlier closeout.

The presentation detailed how the funds were distributed across program areas and projects. Parks and recreation, affordable housing and premium pay accounted for roughly 55% of total ARPA expenditures, Angelusi said. Notable figures she provided include $31,000,000 invested in parks improvements, $17,000,000 invested directly in affordable housing projects that leveraged about $106,000,000 in additional public and private funds, and roughly $10,000,000 toward homelessness-related supports.

Angelusi said park investments delivered facility and maintenance work at more than a dozen sites, playground and court upgrades, trail improvements and improvements at six aquatic centers; several park projects (including Cardinal Run) have opened. Affordable-housing projects funded by ARPA produced 696 units across ten projects, more than half of which serve households at or below 50% of area median income and included units accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

On workforce supports, Angelusi reported ARPA-funded premium pay and supplemental pay combined reached 2,855 employees (1,903 premium-pay recipients plus 952 supplemental-pay recipients) with a combined expenditure of about $16,900,000. The Department of Social Services received nearly $7,000,000 to support 119 full-time positions. Administrative costs charged to the grant totaled approximately $1,300,000, well below the de minimis 10% rate that would have allowed higher indirects, she said.

Angelusi listed several capital projects and leveraged partnerships funded wholly or in part by ARPA: a $10,000,000 HUD allocation for Coldstream Industrial Park design and phases, TAP funding for Brighton Trail and Harrodsburg Road shared-use trail design, and construction funding for Town Branch trail segments and Phoenix Park features. She said Brighton Trail should close in early 2026 and Harrodsburg Road is likely to be the last project to close out.

Council members thanked staff for the update. Council member Brown praised the geographic spread of projects and singled out park and housing investments; Brown also credited staff for targeting affordable housing funds at 60% AMI or below.

Angelusi said the city will continue quarterly and annual reporting, prepare records for future audits and submit a final closeout when the Treasury’s closeout mechanism is available. She closed by noting the city has a goal to fully expense remaining funds well ahead of the federal deadline.