| | | | | | | |  | ITEM a.
Agenda Item |
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| | | | | | | | | DATE: | May 26, 2023
| | DEPARTMENT: | County Manager
| | REQUESTER: | Roger Desjarlais
| | TITLE: | Reallocate American Rescue Plan Act Grant Funds |
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| | | | | | | | | I. | MOTION REQUESTED | | | A) Approve attached revisions to the American Rescue Plan Act Recovery & Resilience Plan Approved Allocations;
B) Approve subrecipient agreement with Center for Progress and Excellence to run the Bob Janes Empowerment Center Shelter Operations;
C) Delegate authority to the County Manager or designee to effectuate obligation and expenditure of the approved ARPA allocations; and
D) Authorize the Chair to execute the contract documents on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. |
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| | | | | | | | | II. | ITEM SUMMARY | | | Reallocates $27,038,852 of American Rescue Plan Act funds from previously approved projects and activities to: 1) eligible Public Safety expenditures for EMT and Paramedic salaries and benefits; and 2) the Center for Progress and Excellence to support Bob Janes Empowerment Center shelter operations from May 1, 2023 through September 30, 2025. |
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| | | | | | | | | III. | BACKGROUND AND IMPLICATIONS OF ACTION |
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| | | | | | | | | | A) | Board Action and Other History | | | | The BoCC participated in an ARPA workshop on September 7, 2021.
On October 19, 2021 the BoCC authorized Phase One investments for American Rescue Plan Act Funding.
On February 11, 2022 during its Strategic Planning session the BoCC provided consensus policy direction for Phase Two investments under the American Rescue Plan Act. Phase
Two investments for American Rescue Plan Act funding were approved by the BoCC on March 1, 2022.
Lee County has submitted all required reports to US Treasury.
On June 21, 2022 the BoCC approved revisions to the allocation plan. Lee County has submitted all required reports to US Treasury |
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| | | | | | | | | | D) | Analysis | | | | The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides $149,675,549 in direct local funding assistance for Lee County to address public health response; negative economic impacts to households, small businesses, and nonprofits; services to disproportionately impacted communities; core government service; and infrastructure.
News reports indicate a high likelihood that unspent ARPA funds will be clawed back by the U.S. Treasury as part of a debt ceiling deal. Although all ARPA funds have been programmed for community benefit according to program rules, some of the planned projects are still in progress. Therefore, the County proposes to use some of the remaining ARPA funds for other eligible expenditures in order to preserve budget capacity to provide previously planned services.
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Existing Project/Activity
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Amount to be Reallocated
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Mobile Vaccines
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($138,877)
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Behavioral Health Coordinated Care System
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($5,000,000)
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Small Business Resiliency Assistance
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($1,946,942)
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Visitor & Convention Bureau Programs
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($2,298,000)
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Public Sector Workforce: Payroll and Benefits for Public Health, Public Safety, or Human Services Workers - Emergency Medical Staff (21)
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($2,701,312)
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Utilities - Fort Myers Beach WRF Major Improvements
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($8,489,875)
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Utilities - Cyber Security Risk Assessment and Hardware Software Improvements
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($2,100,000)
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Broadband
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($801)
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Ernst & Young Unspent
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($4,363,045)
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New Project/Activity
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Reallocated Amount
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Center for Progress and Excellence (Bob Janes Empowerment Center)
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$1,000,000
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Emergency Medical Services – EMTs and Paramedics
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$26,038,852
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The Bob Janes Empowerment Center will receive $1,000,000 in funding through September 30, 2025 to support shelter operations. Staffing and food costs have increased significantly since the pandemic, and the Center has expanded mental health support services.
Additionally, FEMA funding for 2023 is significantly less than 2022. This funding has been used to support the costs of food at the shelter. Center for Progress and Excellence does not have the facilities necessary to prepare food, so is exploring financially feasible options for meal provision going forward.
ARPA funding will support Center expenditures from 5/1/2023 through 9/30/2025. This funding will provide time for the Center to pursue additional funding opportunities, as well as allow time for the Center to pursue the necessary licensing to be able to bill Medicaid for services provided.
Subrecipient projects will be monitored for federal compliance. The subrecipients are required to report quarterly to Lee County on project progress and performance. Reporting for the Bob Janes Empowerment Center funding will be generated from the County’s Homeless Management Information system. Lee County will review and submit the required quarterly and annual reports to the US Treasury with information related to each of these projects.
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| | | | | | | | | | E) | Options | | | | Approve the reallocation and the attached subrecipient agreement. |
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| | | | | | | | | | A) | Current year dollar amount of item:
| $27,038,852 | | | B) | Is this item approved in the current budget? | N/A | | | C) | Is this a revenue or expense item? | Expense | | | D) | Is this Discretionary or Mandatory? | Discretionary | | | E) | Will this item impact future budgets?
If yes, please include reasons in III(D) above.
| Yes | | | F) | Fund: American Rescue Plan
Program:
Project:
Account Strings: 11129500100 | | | G) | Fund Type? | Other: American Rescue Plan Act: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds | | | H) | Comments:
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| REVIEWERS: | | Department | Reviewer | Action | Date | | County Manager | Westen, Samantha | Approved | 5/24/2023 - 4:32 PM |
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