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Board staff reports ARPA secondary‑metering spending status; Davis‑Bacon wage rules flagged for large awards
Summary
Division finance staff said roughly $152 million of $265 million in ARPA funds for secondary metering has been spent (about 57–58%). The board was told returned or underspent ARPA dollars must be reallocated under Treasury rules; recipients of $10 million or more must comply with the Davis‑Bacon prevailing wage requirements, a new compliance item
Jim Egbert, finance manager, briefed the board on ARPA fund administration for the division's secondary‑metering program and other ARPA grants. He said Utah's governor'level guidance expects agencies to be 60% spent by the end of the fiscal reporting period. For the division's $265 million secondary‑metering allocation, staff reported roughly $152 million has already been spent (about 57–58%), leaving only about $4 million available from returned or closeout funds.
Egbert explained that funds returned from contracts (for example, projects finishing under budget) can be reallocated either to new applicants or to existing contract recipients. Staff said they will likely open an additional application period (anticipated in August) to distribute returned or newly available ARPA funding and asked the board to consider program criteria for that round.
Staff also told the board that recipients of $10 million or more must comply with the federal Davis‑Bacon Act (prevailing wage rules). The board was informed that some recipients are pushing back because they did not anticipate the compliance requirement; staff said they are notifying high‑value recipients and working with their financial and auditing teams to bring them into compliance.
Ending: Staff plans to seek board direction at the August meeting on a new application period and distribution criteria to reallocate returned ARPA funds and to complete required closeouts so federal spending benchmarks are met.
