Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Background

On March 11, 2021, the president signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law. The State & Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) was established under ARPA and Sarasota County, along with every county, metropolitan city, and non-entitlement units of governments, is an eligible recipient of SLFRF funding as administered by the U.S. Treasury.

The SLFRF program provides governments across the country with resources to fight the pandemic, maintain vital public services, and build a resilient recovery by making investments in infrastructure.

With increased vaccinations and fewer cases and deaths, Sarasota County’s citizens continue to recover from the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While some areas have strongly recovered, lingering impacts from the pandemic have generated increased need and support for other critical services. These needs were made clear during our community engagement efforts for this funding source, which concluded in November 2021. Our citizens’ top priorities for distribution of this funding source are:

Increasing affordable housing.
Promoting mental and behavioral health services.
Advancing homelessness prevention efforts.
Improving water quality.
Other projects, to include public safety and COVID-19 mitigation.

Uses of Funds

In accordance with the U.S. Treasury Final Rule, there are four broad categories of funding use, broken into seven expenditure categories (EC), which are intended to support local response and recovery efforts over an extended time period.

ARPA Use of Funds Chart UPDATED 8.31.22

Funding Allocations:

On December 7, 2021 and January 11, 2022, the Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners approved the following funding allocations of the fully $84.2 million in ARPA CLFRF anticipated from the U.S. Treasury.

EC1. Public Health Impacts

Measures taken to continue to respond to COVID-19 and the broader health impacts of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 public health emergency.

County Covid-19 Medical Expenses - $5,000,000
Ventilation and Air Quality Improvements - $5,000,000
Medical Examiner Equipment - $1,000,000

The original allocation of ARPA funds included $8,000,000 dedicated to fund mental and behavioral health programs. These initiatives are instead being funded by an equivalent $8,000,000 commitment through the Sarasota County Mental Health Care District - General Revenue Fund. In summary, the commitment of $8,000,000 funding for these initiatives has remained unaltered and this project information will remain included here on the ARPA project list for added public awareness and transparency.

EC2. Negative Economic Impacts

EC3. Public Health – Negative Economic Impact: Public Sector Capacity

EC4. Premium Pay

EC5. Infrastructure

EC6. Revenue Replacement

EC7. Administrative