The American Rescue Plan Act & Ohio Townships

ARPA Procurement Guidance

*Updated 10/2/2023

Please note that the procurement requirements have been updated, particularly in cases of competitive billing. As most townships do not receive federal funding, townships are not generally familiar with federal procurement standards, which are applicable to all ARPA expenditures. Compliance with federal procurement requirements was not an issue under the CARES Act because everyone was under a state of emergency, which is one of the exceptions to the federal guidelines.

The Treasury ARPA Final Rule was clear that all funds would be subject to federal procurement standards, which are referred to as the Uniform Guidance ("UG") and generally set forth in 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

Notably, however, the UG does not only contain requirements for when funds are spent, but the UG also has requirements for recipients to have in place before the expenditure of any funds. The UG specifically requires any recipient to have: (1) "internal controls" in place; (2) documented procurement policies, and; (3) written standards of conduct relating to conflicts of interest. The recipient is also required to maintain all records necessary to document the detail involved in the procurement.

Below are links to documents to help townships understand federal procurement regulations:

Letter to OTA Explaining Procurement Documents and Policies

*Updated 10/2/23* Spreadsheet Comparing all UG Requirements to Ohio's Procurement Requirements for Townships

Contract Addendum

U.S. Treasury to Limit Help

All townships should have received an email today from Treasury providing additional details on how the agency will address revenue shortfalls and its impact on recipients of ARPA funds.

According to the email sent today, after Monday, October 17, Treasury's contact center will no longer be able to respond to phone calls. In addition, starting later this month, Treasury will be forced further to ramp down staff support for the contact center. As a result, response times to recipient emails are also expected to be significantly delayed. Tribal recipients may email tribal.consult@treasury.gov for assistance.

To assist recipients, Treasury has provided several self-service resources to answer commonly asked questions. Please refer to the SLFRF program website for this information about how to solve common issues, including account access issues, payments questions, and other logistical issues.

For program administration and grants management-related inquiries, including inquiries on eligible uses, please refer to the program's website as well as the following program guidance materials to address frequently asked questions:

• For Revenue Loss inquiries, please see pages 9-11 of the Overview of the Final Rule and FAQs #3.1, #3.2, #3.3, #4.1, #13.14, #13.15, and #13.16. 
• For Premium Pay inquiries, please see pages 35-36 of the  Overview of the Final Rule, as well as FAQs #5.1 - #5.4 and pages 6, 29-30 of the Compliance and Reporting Guidance.
• For Affordable Housing inquiries, please see pages 14-20 of the  Overview of the Final Rule, the Affordable Housing How-To Guide, and FAQs #2.14 and #4.9.
• For Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) inquiries, please see FAQs #6.18 and #6.19.
• For taxability inquiries regarding SLFRF payments, please see the IRS-issued FAQs.
• For second-tranche payments, visit our Guidance on Second Tranche Payments, including our Treasury Portal Submission walkthrough.
• For various overviews of the SLFRF  Compliance and Reporting Guidance, review our Treasury SLFRF-related webinars.

Please note that these materials provide an overview of the guidance and should not be used as a substitute for reviewing the authorizing statute, the Final Rule (effective April 1, 2022), as well as the SLFRF Award Terms and Conditions, and other program guidelines and requirements.

Federal Procurement Guidance Changes for Revenue Loss

On July 27, 2022, the Treasury Department updated its Frequently Asked Questions and included five additional questions and responses relating to Section 13, which addresses the Uniform Guidance.

The most significant addition for townships is FAQ 13.15, which covers "Which requirements of the Uniform Guidance apply to revenue loss funds."

When the Final Rule was initially published, it indicated that all ARPA funds are subject to all portions of Subpart D of the Uniform Guidance, which is set forth in 2 C.F.R. Part 200. From this provision, OTA issued sample Procurement Guidelines, which addressed the complicated procurement requirements that differentiated from the state of Ohio procurement requirements. The Uniform Guidance Procurement Guidelines are outlined in 2 C.F.R. 200.317 to 200.227 and were incorporated into the sample Procurement Policy, which the OTA recommended all townships adopt.

In the recent FAQ, the Treasury Department announced, for the first time, that funds used under the "Revenue Loss" category are not subject to 2 C.F.R. 200.317 to 200.327. This means that the Federal Procurement Guidelines are not applicable when ARPA funds are used under the "Revenue Loss" category. Instead, for ARPA funds used as "Revenue Loss," the township is subject only to Ohio procurement requirements.

Please note that any expenditures under the first, second, or fourth category continue to be subject to the Federal Procurement Guidelines. Additionally, please note that funds used as Revenue Loss continue to be subject to several provisions of the Uniform Guidance:

• 300 Statutory and national policy requirements. 
• 302 Financial management. 
• 303 Internal controls. 
• 328 Financial reporting. 
• 329 Monitoring and reporting program performance. 
• Record Retention and Access (2 C.F.R. 200.334 – 200.338)

–Retention requirements for records. 

–Requests for transfer of records. 

–Methods for collection, transmission, and storage of information. 

–Access to records. 

–Restrictions on public access to records.

Based on this, the OTA recommends that townships keep Uniform Guidance Procurement Policies in place until new policies can be drafted, which will be targeted more specifically to the Uniform Guidance provisions applicable to ARPA funds used under the "Revenue Loss" category.

Click below to read the updated Final Rule and FAQ.

Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

Tips for Troubleshooting SAM.gov Renewal

Many townships are due to renew their SAM.gov registration. As a reminder, townships were required to create a SAM.gov account for American Rescue Plan funding and must keep the registration active to receive any future federal funds, including any funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, federal firefighter grants, or future disaster relief. Renewals must be completed annually through the SAM.gov website, which is always 100% free.

Below are some tips for troubleshooting your renewal process: 

1. No Match Found – SAM.gov will perform a check to find matches of existing entities that may be associated with your township. If no matches are found, you will need to submit documentation to verify your township's legal name, physical address, and date of incorporation. 
2. Validate Incorporation Date – Townships in Ohio are not incorporated. Furthermore, the OTA staff is not aware of any township that has its original creation documents or if any of these documents still exist. Numerous townships have succeeded using one of the following four dates - 1803, 1804, 1900, or 2000. If none of the dates work, you must pull a help ticket.
3. Validate Physical Address – To validate your township's physical address, click the button to create an incident and upload a utility bill or a redacted bank statement. If your township has a PO box or sends mail to a different address, please ensure the documentation you upload has the physical address listed, not the mailing address. A PO Box will not be accepted as an address.
4. Requesting Personal Information – SAM.gov users are not currently required to enter personal information or upload personal documents (including Social Security numbers or photo identification) to renew their entity registration. SAM.gov's new security enhancements are voluntary at this time but may become mandatory at a future date.

If you have any questions, concerns, or issues while renewing your SAM registration, please contact the Federal Service Desk at 1-866-606-8220 or go to fsd.gov. OTA staff is also happy to discuss any concerns or questions with you, but only the Federal Service Desk will be able to help resolve issues. 

Click here to view webinar slides on SAM.gov Entity Validation

Federal OBM Announces Alternative to ARPA Single Audit Requirement

In August, Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber issued a Bulletin (2022-008) informing townships about an alternative to receiving a Single Audit for eligible local governments pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFR). The Alternative Compliance Examination (ACE) engagement is permitted by the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for townships that expend $750,000 or more in federal awards during the township's fiscal year and who meet other criteria. For more information, including eligibility requirements, please read the Bulletin here.

Reporting

Treasury has created a recording for NEUs to use for reporting on their ARPA dollars! This video covers reporting responsibilities, accessing Treasury's portal, and submitting supporting documents and FAQs. To access the video, please click the button below.

Treasury Webinar – ARPA Reporting Setup for NEUs

Treasury Webinar – ARPA Reporting Procedures (After Setup)

Reporting Deadline Extended

What can you use the funding for?

On January 7, 2022, Treasury released its Final Rule on ARPA funding, significantly expanding eligible uses for Ohio townships. Thank you to the attorneys at Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews for their initial summary of this document and for providing the sample resolutions below.

Revenue Loss
In the most significant change for townships, the Final Rule includes an option for ARPA recipients to elect to either calculate its revenue loss OR adopt a "standard allowance," which is capped at $10 million. The Final Rule expressly acknowledges that the Standard Allowance will be most helpful for smaller entities, which would seem to encompass all Ohio townships. So long as the recipient consistently elects to utilize the Standard Allowance rather than calculating revenue loss, the recipient may use up to $10 million for the provision of government services.

The term government services retain the same meaning as in the Interim Final Rule and are discussed on page 259. The Final Rule states that, generally, services provided by the recipient are "government services" unless specifically listed otherwise. It further defines Government Services as including, but are not limited to, "maintenance or pay-go funded building of infrastructure, including roads; modernization of cybersecurity, including hardware, software, and protection of critical infrastructure; health services; environmental remediation; school or educational services; and the provision of police, fire, and other public safety services." 

This is consistent with the Interim Final Rule, which stated:

"Government services can include, but are not limited to, maintenance or pay-go funded building of infrastructure, including roads; modernization of cybersecurity, including hardware, software, and protection of critical infrastructure; health services; environmental remediation; school or educational services; and the provision of police, fire, and other public safety services. However, expenses associated with obligations under instruments evidencing financial indebtedness for borrowed money would not be considered the provision of government services, as these financing expenses do not directly provide services or aid to citizens. Specifically, government services would not include interest or principal on any outstanding debt instrument, including, for example, short-term revenue or tax anticipation notes, or fees or issuance costs associated with the issuance of new debt. For the same reasons, government services would not include satisfaction of any obligation arising under or pursuant to a settlement agreement, judgment, consent decree, or judicially confirmed debt restructuring in a judicial, administrative, or regulatory proceeding, except if the judgment or settlement required the provision of government services. That is, satisfaction of a settlement or judgment itself is not a government service, unless the settlement required the provision of government services. In addition, replenishing financial reserves (e.g., rainy day or other reserve funds) would not be considered provision of a government service, since such expenses do not directly relate to the provision of government services."

Based on this language, it appears that all townships will be able to presume their ARPA funds are revenue loss and use such funds broadly for any provision of government services, subject to the exceptions enumerated above. In order to properly effectuate the standard allowance, the resolution authorizing the use of the ARPA funds under the revenue loss category should specifically elect the Standard Allowance as defined by the Final Rule, and that will tie out the election for any audit. 

Funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and spent by December 31, 2026.

ARPA Funding Overview

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding will be distributed to non-entitlement units of local government based on population. All townships are considered non-entitlement units, with the exception of three that have populations over 50,000 and were included in the "Metropolitan Cities" category (see above).

• There is a cap on the amount: The distribution may not exceed 75 percent of the jurisdiction's most recent budget as of January 27, 2020.
• You can find your township's allocation here.

Funding for non-entitlement units was distributed to the state and will be administered by the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). OBM will pass the funding on to townships.

• Townships must be registered with OBM to receive funding.
• Funding will come in two disbursements: one initially and another 12 months later.

Previous Webinars

• A previous OBM webinar on the American Rescue Plan Act can be accessed here.
  • This webinar contained valuable information in anticipation of available funding. 

• Now Available: Recordings of Reporting Guidance Webinars
• On June 17, 2021, Treasury released the Compliance and Reporting Guidance for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Program. The guidance provides additional detail and clarification for each recipient's compliance and reporting responsibilities. It will provide an equitable economic recovery with provisions ensuring accountability, transparency, and user-friendliness. Following releasing this reporting guidance, Treasury hosted a series of informational webinars for recipients. Recordings of these webinars, along with the accompanying slides, are now available on the Treasury website (also linked above). Recipients are encouraged to view the webinars that correspond with their population and award amount, as reporting requirements vary by jurisdiction size and funding amount.

• Auditing of American Rescue Plan Act Funding
• Join the Auditor of State’s Office as staff members discuss all things American Rescue Plan Act from an auditing perspective. Staff members presented valuable information to Ohio townships and answered questions. The OTA highly recommends that all township officials - fiscal officers in particular - view this session.
  Slides

• Use of ARPA Funds
• With townships officially eligible for direct American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the OTA has received one big question: "What can we spend this funding on?
  The OTA partnered with Greg Beck and the attorneys at Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews on this webinar, which provided an overview of eligible uses under Treasury guidance. For those who attended the "Use of CARES Act Funding" webinar last year, this will be a similar format with time for Q&A at the end.
  Slides

Please note that official township ARPA guidance and instructions can be found by clicking here.

This page is intended to publicize miscellaneous resources reported to or discovered by the OTA. Official township guidance and instructions for ARPA funds can be found at the link above. 

Frequently Asked Questions from Treasury and Other Helpful Links 

ARPA Local Recovery Funds Webpage

Non-entitlement Units Webpage

Final Rule – ARPA Requirements

Final Rule Overview

Interim Final Rule – ARPA Requirements 

Office of Budget & Management

Recipient Compliance and Reporting Responsibilities

UAN Guidance

Auditor's ARPA Frequently Asked Questions

National Endowment for the Arts

A new grant opportunity through ARPA that local governments can apply for to help with arts and cultural events/organizations.

The Arts Endowment is encouraging applications from a variety of eligible organizations, including those:

• That serve populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by ethnicity, economics, geography, or disability; 
• With small and medium-sized budgets and from rural to urban parts of the country; and
• That are applying to the Arts Endowment for the first time.

For official press release details, click here. 

To read about and apply for the grants, click here.