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CliftonLarsonAllen tells Norfolk County $7.6M remains unspent; monitoring and 'excess capacity' grants are in place
Summary
CliftonLarsonAllen updated the Norfolk County Commission that roughly $7.6 million remained unspent of locally distributed ARPA funds as of Sept. 30, 2025, and described monitoring, single-audit support and tools to reallocate any real surpluses before the 12/31/2026 spending deadline.
Sean McGoldrick, a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), told the Norfolk County Commission on Jan. 7 that CLA and county staff are focused on monitoring American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subrecipients as the spending deadline approaches.
McGoldrick said the county was awarded roughly $137,000,000 under ARPA and that member cities and towns received about $133,000,000 of that amount; the county retained about 3% for administrative costs and county-level projects. He said the county portal recorded 390 applications, of which 281 were approved, including 15 allotment applications. ‘‘We do a lot of work… the portal allowed us to do application intake, eligibility review, multilevel eligibility review, workflows, reporting, and document retention,’’ McGoldrick said.
Why it matters: counties and municipalities must spend ARPA awards within federal guidance and provide quarterly reporting; unused or ineligible funds can be returned and reassigned. CLA reported approximately $7,600,000 remained unspent as of Sept. 30, 2025, and emphasized the firm’s role in monitoring subrecipients, reconciling quarterly reports to general ledgers and supporting single-audit processes.
CLA described its monitoring procedures, saying each subrecipient is monitored at least annually and that quarterly reporting is reconciled against approved uses. ‘‘At a minimum, each subrecipient is monitored on an annual basis,’’ McGoldrick said. CLA staff told commissioners they reach out to subrecipients about personnel or system changes, follow up on documentation, and escalate findings to county staff if necessary.
On surplus handling, CLA and county staff said they have pre-approved ‘‘excess capacity’’ grant applications in the portal that can receive returned funds if a municipality truly has no eligible uses remaining. Commissioner Stady asked for a written summary of the briefing; CLA agreed to draft a formal memo for county distribution. McGoldrick also said CLA regularly assists external auditors and has joined calls with auditors to explain eligibility decisions and provide supporting documentation.
Key numbers and deadlines provided in the briefing: CLA reported about $7.6 million unspent (09/30/2025), a county award of approximately $137 million, and a subrecipient spending deadline of 12/31/2026 for non-administrative costs; administrative closeout activity extends to 04/30/2027. County staff and CLA emphasized they expect continued monitoring and some administrative closeout work in 2027.
The commission received the update and asked follow-up questions about the mechanism to move funds and CLA’s role in audits. CLA said the excess-capacity mechanism had been used in a limited way previously and would be available to reallocate genuine surpluses; CLA said it will continue to work with the county and subrecipients to ensure compliance and spending before federal deadlines.
