Orange County commissioners voted to adopt Ordinance 24‑12‑30‑08, an ordinance obligating previously uncommitted American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, after staff explained recent changes in U.S. Treasury guidance about the lost‑revenue exception.

Staff told the board Treasury’s portal guidance had shifted in October and now requires documented, executed obligations for amounts claimed under the lost‑revenue exception or awards to subrecipients. County staff said many local awards did not have executed contracts or agreements in place and that several counties were scrambling to document obligations to preserve federal funds.

To comply, staff proposed a single ordinance that itemizes eligible uses and creates an amount “not to exceed” figure drawn from a staff spreadsheet. In the meeting transcript staff read a spreadsheet figure as "3,000,000,495,813.25" as the compiled total on their worksheet and described that amount as itemized with an amount not to exceed; the transcript does not clarify whether that numeric string is a formatting error or an exact total. Staff emphasized the ordinance covers remaining ARPA‑eligible capital purchases (public safety equipment, laptops, radios, repeater upgrades, building improvements on Jackson Street), and would allow reallocation of leftover amounts from completed awards (for example, if a $100,000 award spent $80,000, the remaining $20,000 could be reallocated under the ordinance rather than returned to the federal government).

Staff said they intentionally did not include premium‑pay or salary reimbursements in this ordinance and instead listed capital purchases and other easily documented expenditures to avoid the double‑dipping concern. Staff also said ARPA disbursements will remain in a standalone ARPA fund and that other grant funds are tracked in separate accounts to prevent commingling.

A commissioner moved to accept Ordinance 24‑12‑30‑08 and it was seconded; a roll call was taken. The transcript records affirmative roll‑call responses; the posted segments show the board proceeded after the roll call. The ordinance directs staff to obligate leftover ARPA funds up to the stated not‑to‑exceed amount and to continue tracking project‑level invoices and contracts for federal compliance.

Staff noted a December 31 reporting/transfer timing and said they will continue reconciling awards and tracking obligations to avoid returning federal funds.

The ordinance was recorded as Ordinance 24‑12‑30‑08 in the minutes and will be posted with the county’s fiscal records.