President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law in March 2021, designating $350 billion nationwide to support immediate pandemic response, address economic fallout and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.
The County of Berks expects to receive more than $81 million through the American Rescue Plan.
The County is still in the process of gathering information to properly prioritize the most effective and intentional uses of these funds. The Berks County Recovery Survey allows the community to provide input about which focus areas should be prioritized.
The County will focus on leveraging our available resources and collaborating with community partners to ensure that these funds will create a positive, lasting impact in our community for all residents. A grant application for projects seeking potential funding is available below.
Berks ARP Funding
The County received 50% of the expected funding in May 2021 and anticipates receiving the remaining funding in 2022. The County has until December 31, 2024 to commit these funds and until December 31, 2026 to expend the funds.
Total Funding Expected:
$81,806,170
Funding Received:
$40,903,085
Funding Expended (See Dashboard):
$7,465,000
In addition to the County of Berks' allocation:
Berks County municipalities will be receiving about $96.7 million
Berks County school districts will be receiving about $160.3 million.
What's The Plan?
The County Commissioners established committees dedicated to specific focus areas to help address the needs of our residents and strengthen our local economy. Each Commissioner served as the Chair of a committee that helped to identify objectives, long-term benefits, possible collaborations and deserving initiatives.
This committee reviewed food insecurity, homelessness, affordable housing, mental health, health inequities and unmet social service needs.
This committee reviewed programs that supported businesses to determine if there were still unmet needs. This included small businesses, Main Streets, Tourism, Hospitality, workforce development and manufacturing.
This Committee reviewed transportation, broadband, water and sewer and special projects.
This Committee continues to assess and document the negative financial impact on the County of Berks budget and operations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Community Survey
The County of Berks is committed to utilizing our ARP funding to create a positive, lasting impact in our community. To help us do that, we collected input and data from residents through a community survey. Please keep in mind that this is one-time funding and not designed to support ongoing commitments to fund operations into the future. Results from the survey can be seen below.
Expenditure Dashboard
The County created a dashboard that will allow the community to track how funds are distributed As the County Leadership team makes decisions and allocates funds, the dashboard will be updated to reflect those expenditures.
Funds utilized to cover administrative expenses related to the grant process and to support County of Berks government services that experienced loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding for projects related to improving water and sewer, access to broadband internet service, transportation and other types of infrastructure.
Funding to support projects that will create sustainable, long-term positive outcomes.
Reporting And Compliance
As required by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund grant program, Berks County must publish an annual Performance Report outlining how funds are being utilized.