New Castle County says 83% of ARPA funds spent; $18.5M remains as county outlines contingency options and timeline

New Castle County officials told the Finance Committee on April 14 that the county is on track to fully spend its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation and is actively managing a remaining balance of roughly $18.5 million to meet federal deadlines.

"We are positioned to fully deploy all funds within the federal timelines with no risk of funds lost," said Tanya Atkins, director of ARPA funding for New Castle County, as she and county finance and compliance partners walked the committee through spend-down progress and closeout plans.

The presentation, delivered by Atkins with compliance partner Molly Schacklett of Guidehouse and county finance staff, said the county received federal SLFRF funds in 2021 and used a portfolio approach that resulted in roughly 242 funded projects. Schacklett told the committee that "83% of the county's SLFR funds, or approximately $90,000,000, have been expended," and that 207 of 242 projects have reached 100% expenditure. The presenters also noted a second figure used in the briefing: a total allocation of about $108.5 million distributed across projects.

Why it matters: the county must both document eligible expenditures and reconcile totals with U.S. Treasury reporting to close the program. Federal milestones the presenters cited include the obligation deadline (met), the expenditure deadline of December 31, 2026, and a final closeout and Treasury reconciliation in April 2027.

Closeout mechanics and contingency options

County staff emphasized active monitoring and three contingency paths if projects finish under budget or otherwise produce surplus funds: (1) reallocate surplus to negotiated indirect costs within the county's established indirect-cost rate; (2) reallocate to eligible payroll costs subject to additional requirements; or (3) reallocate to a different eligible project that had executed contracts in place by the obligation deadline. "We have a menu of ready-to-go contingency options," Atkins said, and staff said those options have been vetted against U.S. Treasury rules.

Council members’ questions and follow-up

Councilman Smiley asked whether any ARPA-funded projects would need ongoing county funding after federal dollars expire; Atkins said that is being worked out and that the administration will follow up with details. Schacklett added that reallocations are limited now that the county has passed the obligation deadline, but that the three contingency options were identified as administratively feasible and relatively low-risk.

Councilman Koneko asked for clarification about an $8 million payroll line item referenced in the slide deck; Atkins and Schacklett explained that "premium pay" covered emergency responders and staff who worked in-person during the pandemic and that the county budgeted payroll-related ARPA funding to offset pandemic-related labor costs.

Next steps

Atkins said staff will continue monthly monitoring of remaining projects, use internal hard-stop dates (varying by project) to identify redeployable funds in time to meet the December 31, 2026 expenditure deadline, and return with a final closeout report after Treasury reconciliation. She told the committee she expects to return with a closeout briefing after April 2027 and that the county will publish an annual report by July 31, 2026 that summarizes the program year.