LaSalle County finance committee reviews unused ARPA allocations, warns of federal deadline

LaSalle County finance staff told the county's Finance and TIF Committee on July 28 that a mix of external and internal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocations remain open and that the county must either reallocate unspent federal ARPA funds into an existing open ARPA ordinance or return them to the federal government after the ARPA spending deadline. Sharon, the county staff member presenting the ARPA report, told the committee that the county currently has 145 ordinances in total (34 internal, 111 external) and 28 open ordinances. She said the only internal ARPA ordinance that remains open is the sheriff's resource officers allocation and recommended that any externally held ARPA funds that remain unspent at the deadline be moved into that internal ARPA ordinance rather than returned to the federal government. The committee was told that the federal deadline for spending ARPA funds is Dec. 31, 2026. Sharon said the county can reallocate ARPA funds by amending an existing open ARPA ordinance, but repeatedly cautioned that transfers from one…