State recovery official tells panel Vermont has obligated most ARPA funds; $96M remains and timing is critical

Douglas Farm, the state’s chief recovery officer, updated the Appropriations Committee on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) state fiscal recovery spending and risks. He said Vermont received $1.25 billion in state fiscal recovery funds, passed roughly $200 million to municipalities and obligated the remainder—about $1.049 billion—primarily to infrastructure (about 70%) and housing/programs (about 30%).

Farm said departments had spent most ARPA allocations but that $96 million remained unexpended as of the Oct. 1, 2025 reporting snapshot; he expects a mid-February update that includes year-end data. He warned members that federal rules create a hard expenditure deadline of Dec. 31, 2026 for the state-fiscal recovery funds and that after Dec. 31, 2024 reallocations are limited to projects obligated before that date. Treasury will scrutinize reallocations and deobligations at quarter close, Farm said, and deobligated funds left at quarter end risk being returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Members asked specifically about the water/wastewater portfolio (Department of Natural Resources) and whether projects are sufficiently advanced to spend ARPA dollars before the deadline. Farm said most remaining ARPA exposure sits in wet-weather/wastewater projects and that the administration is working with agencies to accelerate invoicing and avoid recapture, but acknowledged timing and construction-season constraints could create risk.

Farm offered to return for follow-up briefings and to connect committee members with agency leads on high-risk projects.