Trumbull County commissioners discuss extending ARPA spending deadlines for local projects

Trumbull County commissioners on Sept. 16 discussed extending deadlines on several county-administered ARPA awards so local recipients can finish projects that have grown in scope.

Commissioner Sharon Taylor said municipal and township recipients — including Liberty Township and the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership — have asked for more time to complete stormwater and other projects funded through ARPA, and she recommended county counsel prepare a resolution amending contracts to extend spending deadlines.

The county prosecutor’s office and county auditor staff said the county has used contract amendments before to move deadlines for locally encumbered awards. Phil Danzo of the prosecutor’s office said extending a contract deadline preserves the original scope of work and does not by itself change what the award pays for.

“Extending the deadline is different from expanding the scope,” Danzo said. “We need to be careful about what Treasury will allow as a reallocation versus what we can do by amending a county contract.”

County auditor Martha (last name not specified in the record) and other staff confirmed the county previously issued contract amendments to adjust local deadlines and that attorney Rogers had prepared similar resolutions in prior years. Taylor said she had also spoken with Julie Breen, who agreed the county could proceed with contract amendments.

The discussion also addressed one county project — a potential Emergency Management Agency (EMA) move — that is not currently within the scope of funds encumbered by Dec. 31 and would require separate Treasury approval before reallocating ARPA funds to it. Danzo and other staff told commissioners the county is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury about whether the federal rules will permit that reallocation.

Commissioners directed staff to prepare a single, narrowly framed request to Treasury focused on whether remaining local ARPA funds may be reallocated to refurbish the EMA building, while separately preparing contract amendments to extend expenditure deadlines for projects where the original scope remains unchanged. Staff said they have already contacted state and federal representatives and the county’s consultants seeking clarification from Treasury.

The commissioners also reviewed local monitoring and reporting practices for ARPA recipients. Taylor recommended adding a completion-date tracking column to the county spreadsheets that document receipts and remaining balances for each award so the county can report which projects remain incomplete and which funds are unspent.

Actions - Motion: Prepare a resolution and amended contracts extending local ARPA expenditure deadlines for awarded projects that have met the original scopes; and to submit a focused question to the U.S. Department of the Treasury about whether ARPA funds may be reallocated for the EMA building. (No formal roll-call vote recorded; commissioners directed staff to proceed.)

Speakers - Sharon Taylor, Commissioner - Phil Danzo, Prosecutor's Office (prosecutor’s office attorney) - Martha (last name not specified), Trumbull County Auditor - Matt Martin, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (mentioned)

Authorities - Type: regulation; Name/description: U.S. Department of the Treasury guidance on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) eligible uses; referenced_by: ["topicintro","topfinish"]

Clarifying details - Category: contract amendment; detail: county counsel and the prosecutor’s office previously prepared resolutions amending local contracts to extend deadlines; value: not specified; source_speaker: "Phil Danzo" - Category: ARPA local deadlines; detail: many county allocations have a local contract deadline of Dec. 31, 2025 (county-allocated deadlines); source_speaker: "Sharon Taylor" - Category: Treasury reallocation; detail: EMA move is not currently encumbered by Dec. 31 deadline and would require Treasury approval to change scope; source_speaker: "Phil Danzo"

Proper_names - {"name":"Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership","type":"organization"} - {"name":"Liberty Township","type":"location"}

Provenance - transcript_segments: [{"block_id":"s=121.985","local_start":0,"local_end":140,"evidence_excerpt":"Sharon Taylor, commissioner of office. I'm sorry to start with sneaking out, but we I've had a few people reach out to me where they they got some grants, ARPA grants from the county. And they need a little bit more time to spend this money rather than December 31...","tc_start":"00:02:01","tc_end":"00:02:20","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s=547.635","local_start":0,"local_end":130,"evidence_excerpt":"Okay. I just wanna be clear. This what you're talking about, these were these were already agreed upon, met the deadline...They need an extension so that they can complete their projects...","tc_start":"00:09:07","tc_end":"00:09:27","reason_code":"topicfinish"}],

topics:[{"name":"ARPA grants","justification":"County discussion about extending local ARPA contract deadlines and Treasury guidance","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.96,"depth_score":0.80,"opinionatedness":0.05,"controversy":0.20,"civic_salience":0.70,"impactfulness":0.65,"geo_relevance":1.00}}],

searchable_tags:["ARPA","contract amendment","Treasury guidance","EMA","Trumbull County"]},{"id":"shepherd-of-the-valley-revenue-bonds-tefra","headline":"Commissioners hear TEFRA presentation for Shepherd of the Valley refunding and new facility financing","shortSummary":"Bond counsel and county finance advisers described a proposed issuance of hospital-facilities revenue bonds to refund earlier issues and fund construction of a Shepherd of the Valley retirement campus; commissioners asked for follow-up briefings on bank-qualified status and headline risk." ,