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City officials say Akron has obligated full ARPA award, reallocate $8.82 million to fixed costs
Summary
City finance staff and outside consultants told the Budget & Finance Committee they have obligated 100% of Akron's $145.3 million American Rescue Plan Act award, spent roughly 80% and shifted $8,821,996.50 of committed projects into predictable fixed costs to avoid returning funds to the U.S. Treasury.
Akron finance officials and a Guidehouse consultant told the city’s Budget & Finance Committee that Akron has fully obligated its $145.3 million American Rescue Plan Act award and has spent about 80% of it, with roughly $116 million expended to date. The presentation outlined steps the administration took in late 2024 to avoid returning federal funds that could not be contractually obligated by the December 31, 2024 deadline.
City Finance Director Tom Wheeler and Guidehouse consultant Mitch Lundstrom told committee members that obligation under Treasury rules requires an executed legal agreement and reporting in a quarterly report. Lundstrom said the city refined its “obligation strategy” to replace project line items where spending or contracting uncertainty risked leaving dollars unobligated, and shifted those amounts into fixed, predictable expenses.
The administration reported reallocating $8,821,996.50 from selected previously committed projects into items easier to obligate and spend. Examples cited in the presentation included a $4,000,000 contract with Summit County Public Health, $1,600,000 for court modernization work tied to Tyler Technologies/Odyssey contract amendments, a $240,000 local match for the Sasaki planning effort, and additional audit and support costs. Lundstrom said moving funds into these items was a one-for-one substitution intended to preserve the city’s full ARPA allocation.
Wheeler and Lundstrom described the substitution approach as fiscally conservative: rather than risk returning any federal dollars, the city replaced uncertain long-term capital obligations (for example, some parks, pools and community-center projects where staff-time and change orders could reduce final obligations) with predictable, short-term operating and contract expenses that are eligible under Treasury rules. Lundstrom said Akron’s approach mirrored practices used by other municipalities and followed federal guidance and grants-management best practices.
Council members asked about specific items that had not been contractually obligated by the deadline, including a proposed use-of-force study (about $768,000) and some home-repair grants. Wheeler said the use-of-force contract was not executed before the obligation cutoff and therefore could not be reported as obligated; shifting funds into the substitution pool preserves the dollars so the city can still pursue those projects later. Council members also asked how the administration will measure program outcomes; Guidehouse and staff said program-level performance data and grantee monitoring remain ongoing and that the city will report further impact metrics as part of budget and grant oversight.
The presentation concluded with the administration’s statement that Akron has obligated 100% of its ARPA award, spent roughly 80%, and will continue monitoring spending to meet the December 31, 2026 expenditure deadline. Officials said they will provide more detail in the 2025 operating and capital budget materials and can share the consultant’s sustainability framework for longer-term decisions about continuing programs after ARPA funding ends.
