Suffolk County officials reported that the county has completed the closeout phase of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant program and instructed commissioners to obligate 11 “excess capacity” applications so they can receive surplus funds if any become available.

Director Cronin told the commissioners that more than 277 ARPA applications had been approved and distributed across the county since 2021, and that the county had reached the point of final awards for the program. Cronin said small residual amounts from awards—$1,858 and $7,477.94 noted on the tracking spreadsheet—will be absorbed into the program’s administrative costs. He also said some towns returned unused funds to the pool and that staff continue to receive inquiries about surplus allotments.

Cronin and staff explained the county’s plan for handling surplus dollars under federal guidance: communities could submit “excess capacity” applications that would remain obligated but unfunded until surplus dollars are available. Those applications act as pre‑approved candidates for any funds that later become available through transfers from closed awards. Cronin emphasized the excess applications “are not funded” today; the motion before the commission would obligate them so they could receive money if surplus funds develop between Jan. 1, 2025 and the end of 2026.

Commissioners discussed the deadline for obligating excess applications (the staff repeatedly identified the next day as a hard cut‑off for new obligations) and asked whether specific towns had submitted applications. Cronin said four applications remained in pen 1 status and audit review and might be ready before the posted deadline. He also noted that the county itself had two excess applications on file (for the weights-and-measures program and for other county capital reimbursements) and that staff had compiled records for 16 county capital projects totaling more than $1.4 million in prior expenditures; if surplus funds were identified that the commissioners wanted returned to the county, those projects could be reimbursed from surplus funds.

Commissioner Richard Skeddy moved to obligate the list of 11 excess capacity applications presented by staff; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously. The 11 obligated, unfunded applications and amounts read into the record were: Quincy (ARPA 1323) $1,000,000; Dedham (ARPA 1365) $124,812.23; Dover (ARPA 1369) $49,000; (Rentham) (ARPA 1372) $33,415.60; Medway (ARPA 1373) $105,000; Medway (ARPA 1374) $99,878.20; Milton (ARPA 1375) $576,615.42; Milton (ARPA 1376) $850,147.58; Franklin (ARPA 1377) $675,000; County of Norfolk (ARPA 1381) $98,034; County of Norfolk (ARPA 1382) $1,493,673.90. The total listed was $5,105,575.58. Cronin and staff reiterated that the applications are currently unfunded and will remain eligible for funding only if surplus dollars become available and the commissioners approve any transfers.

Why it matters: obligating excess applications creates a pipeline to deploy any future surplus ARPA dollars quickly to locally proposed projects or to reimburse previously incurred county capital expenses, while preserving compliance with federal rules about allowable uses and transfer of obligations.

The county director and procurement staff said they will notify individual commissioners if the four additional applications complete audit review in time to be considered at a possible follow‑up meeting the next day.