County reports ARPA fourth‑annual filing and says it is on track to spend remaining funds by end of 2026

Washington County staff on Tuesday gave the board an update on the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investments, saying the county submitted its fourth annual report to the U.S. Treasury on July 31, 2025 and is tracking expenditures and obligations to meet federal deadlines.

Faiza Nore, the county’s ARPA program manager, told the board the county’s ARPA award total is approximately $116,852,194 and that the July 31 annual report covered detailed narrative and performance information for each ARPA project. Nore said the county reported roughly $68,000,000 in expenditures to Treasury as of July 31, 2025 and that about $49,000,000 remained to be spent (figures were presented as rounded amounts). She reiterated federal timelines: the county met the December 31, 2024 obligation deadline by placing contracts and is now in the expenditure phase, with a December 31, 2026 expenditure deadline and final award closure in April 2027.

Nore described ARPA spending in two frameworks: an initial pandemic‑response framework adopted in 2021 and a later framework (adopted in 2023 and adjusted in July 2024) that concentrates funding in defined investment areas, including pandemic recovery, workforce development, childcare, healthy births and “congregate care facilities.” She said the congregate care facilities line item showed roughly 9% obligation in the slide version presented to the board but noted that that figure was behind current spending cycles and was expected to rise after the county’s fiscal‑year close; county staff said they expect the congregate facilities projects to absorb remaining unspent funds as directed by the board’s July 2024 prioritization.

Commissioners asked staff to provide a follow‑up memo after fiscal‑year close that clarifies obligations, the expenditure forecast through December 2026 and whether any pivoting of unspent funds will be needed. Nore and other staff said the ARPA team is tracking project partners’ quarterly expenditures, coordinating with County Counsel and department leads, and will supply a fiscal‑year close update and Q4 figures to the board.

Nore highlighted several program outcomes funded by ARPA, including childcare provider capacity building, healthy births and family stability pilots (which spawned a doula‑nursing “dually model” pilot that later secured an outside grant), and workforce training contracts for semiconductor and agricultural workers. She thanked County Counsel and departmental partners and said the team’s goal is to have all ARPA funds expended by Dec. 31, 2026 and to submit the award‑closure report in April 2027.

No board action or vote was taken; commissioners asked for a memo summarizing fiscal‑year close figures and any concerns ahead of budget work.