Second half of ARPA aid coming to cities, towns in non-functioning counties

The Executive Office for Administration and Finance announced that it has received the second tranche of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund award for the Commonwealth’s counties that are not units of general local government.

Administration and Finance said it will re-distribute these funds to eligible municipalities by the end of September.

Nine Massachusetts counties — Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Suffolk and Worcester — are not units of general local government under the terms of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. As a result, the 254 Massachusetts municipalities in these counties are set to receive their pro rata share of these funds, totaling approximately $473 million.

These funds have been anticipated by municipalities since the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021.

Unlike the state’s ARPA funds, which were received in total last summer, the U.S. Treasury structured the payment of CLFRF awards to municipalities in two tranches, with half paid in 2021 and the remainder to be paid “no less than 12 months after” the payment of the first tranche. In the meantime, municipal officials have been engaging with community stakeholders and creating thoughtful spending plans, as well as obligating and expending funds that were received in the first tranche.