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County staff outline ARPA revenue-loss claim and plan to avoid returning funds to federal government
Summary
Forsyth County staff presented a status report on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocations, proposed reallocations of unobligated or at-risk funds into the allowable revenue-loss category, and a strategy intended to avoid returning unobligated ARPA dollars to the Treasury.
County staff briefed the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 5 about the status of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and a proposed strategy to apply additional eligible revenue-loss claims so the county will not be required to return unspent ARPA dollars to the federal government.
Kyle Haney, who led the briefing, said Forsyth County received $74,256,322 under the ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds allocation. Haney summarized prior board actions, which had already claimed $20,324,496 in revenue loss and added that an additional $6,800,823 remained allowable under the Treasury’s final rule and the county claimed that amount on Nov. 21. Haney described the county’s portfolio of ARPA awards as including 45 external projects and 15 internal projects plus premium pay and administrative costs.
Haney explained the two statutory deadlines relevant to ARPA spending: (1) all funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and (2) obligated funds that extend beyond Dec. 31, 2024 must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026, or be returned. Because some external subrecipient contracts and some internal projects could remain with unspent funds after Dec. 31, his office proposed a prioritization for moving funds into the revenue-loss category. Priorities were: (a) convert unobligated internal funds first into revenue loss, (b) then use revenue loss to cover external contracts that would otherwise expire unused at year-end, and (c) prioritize external subrecipients for continued ARPA funding where there are established county partnerships, substantial prior spending, and longer contract terms.
Under the staff proposal, unobligated internal funds and a select set of external awards that otherwise would revert to the federal government would be reclassified to revenue loss so the county could avoid returning the money. Haney identified three major external projects that would remain ARPA-funded with extensions: the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc., and Horizons Residential Care Center; as well as internal capital and small-business programs that will continue beyond year-end under county control.
Haney said staff would finalize the accounting and present a final allocation to the board at its Dec. 19 briefing. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about timelines, Highland Avenue Center project timing and ARPA project monitoring. Haney said more invoices had arrived in the days before the briefing and staff would update the numbers ahead of the Dec. 19 meeting. The county manager said staff’s goal was to avoid returning funds to the federal government, and county staff indicated they were confident the proposed approach would meet that objective if approved.
No formal board vote was taken on the ARPA strategy at the Dec. 5 meeting; staff sought guidance and said they would return with a final report the following week.
