Fayetteville council discusses ways to use remaining share of American Rescue Plan money

NWA Democrat-Gazette/STACY RYBURN
Fayetteville City Hall is seen Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, at 113 W. Mountain St.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/STACY RYBURN Fayetteville City Hall is seen Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, at 113 W. Mountain St.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Council expressed interest during a workshop Thursday in putting more money toward a child care assistance program and allowing more nonprofits to seek reimbursement for revenue losses incurred because of the pandemic.

The workshop was held so council members could discuss use of the city's remaining portion of American Rescue Plan money. The city was awarded about $17.9 million in federal pandemic relief money. So far the city has obligated all but about $4.2 million of the total.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan proposed putting $1 million more into a program the city is managing that covers the cost of child care for one year to anyone who lives, works or goes to school in the city. The proposal will be on the council's agenda Tuesday.

The program started with $500,000 the council appropriated from the Rescue Plan money in December. The city so far has received 267 requests for applications for the program, 60 of which are in the process of being approved, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker told the council.

Those 60 applications alone total about $720,000 in assistance, exceeding the $500,000 allocated amount. Yolanda Fields, the city's community resources director, said another 23 applications are pending review. The average amount per application is about $12,000. If all 83 applications are approved, that would total roughly $996,000.

Fields said 17 applications didn't meet the city's criteria for living, working or going to school in the city. That leaves 167 more applications that the city could still receive, and if all those were approved, the amount would total more than $2 million. The city is still accepting applications.

Council Member Holly Hertzberg proposed adding another $500,000 to Jordan's proposal, bringing the total allocated for the program to $2 million.

Council Member Teresa Turk is proposing to use an additional $1 million to help nonprofits recover financially from the pandemic for losses incurred from March 2020 to March 2021. Turk originally brought the proposal to the council last month, but it was held until after the workshop.

The council already has approved more than $582,000 in financial assistance to 11 nonprofits for losses incurred from March 2021 to March 2022. The largest beneficiaries were St. James Missionary Baptist Church with $150,510; the Fayetteville Housing Authority Development nonprofit with $104,936; and the Fayetteville Public Library Foundation with $89,016.

Federal rules specified the time period those nonprofits could seek assistance was March 2021 to March 2022, Steven Dotson, the city's internal auditor, told council members last year. The rules changed, and now organizations can ask for assistance for losses incurred at the onset of the pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021, he said.

If the council approves both proposals -- an additional $1.5 million for the child care assistance program and an additional $1 million for nonprofit reimbursement -- that would leave about $1.7 million in unallocated Rescue Plan money.

There are still 20 outstanding applications totaling more than $11.9 million from nonprofit organizations seeking to become "subrecipients" of the Rescue Plan money. A subrecipient agreement involves an organization providing a specific service benefiting residents. The city provides the money and has to keep track of it, reporting quarterly to the federal government and ensuring the use of the money follows federal rules.

Becker told the council city staff can handle overseeing 11 subrecipient agreements. The council has already approved eight, leaving the possibility open for three more for staff to take on.

The council discussed what the do with the remaining money.

One idea would be to support early childhood education. The idea to expand child care and early childhood education in the city came from a city-led economic development committee, said Devin Howland, the city's economic vitality director. City staff will look more deeply into the issue and report back to the council, he said.

The council talked about addressing food insecurity. Becker told the council the city could set up a request for proposals for nonprofits to administer a program to address a specific issue, such as food insecurity. He said Friday the administration will look into the issue.

Council members also discussed supporting the creative economy and housing. Council Member Sonia Harvey originally proposed allocating $3 million in either financial assistance or grant money for projects to arts and culture nonprofits operating in the city. The council discussed the proposal last month but held it until after Thursday's workshop.

Harvey agreed with Becker on Thursday that many of the arts and culture nonprofits that suffered during the pandemic could get assistance if the council reopens the application process for nonprofits to seek reimbursement for revenue loss. She said Friday she is going to think more about requesting a smaller dollar amount.

Council Member Sarah Moore asked about ways the city could use Rescue Plan money for housing, like building new housing as some kind of public-private partnership, assisting with home repairs or providing rent or mortgage assistance.

Some council members, such as Scott Berna, said they were open to the idea but expressed concern. The housing market in the city is hot right now, with demand high and supply low, and the city cannot control costs, he said. Building new housing is expensive, and the city only has a few million dollars left, Berna said. He said Rescue Plan money may not serve as the best way to handle the issue.


On the web

To see a breakdown of Fayetteville’s use of American Rescue Plan money, go to:

https://bit.ly/fayARPA

 



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