The Soldotna City Council passed an ordinance increasing estimated revenues and appropriations in the COVID-19 Relief Special Revenue Fund for a grant received from the state of Alaska, Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The purpose of the grant is to allow municipalities to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts.
City Manager, Stephanie Queen:
“This ordinance would appropriate new federal funds, COVID relief funds that are provided to the city as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The city has already, actually, received the first tranche of these funds, but this ordinance would appropriate the full amount of funds that are allocated to us, which is $1,139,130. Those funds are eligible to be used on expenses through the end of 2024. We have quite a bit of time to be able to use these funds. We have not yet come forward with a recommendation and the council hasn’t yet provided input on what those funds can be used for, but at some point, we would recommend that we get together and talk about priorities for the use of those funds. Generally, it can be used for expenses similar to what the CARES Act funds could be used for with some additional flexibility for things like water/sewer infrastructure, broadband, and, in some cases, local government revenue recovery. At this point, we’re just recommending that the funds be appropriated so that they are within our accounts and then we would come forward at a later date with the council to determine priorities for spending.”
The funds can be used on eligible costs incurred during the period that begins on March 3, 2021 and ends on December 31, 2024. Queen said:
“Our estimation is that these funds can be used for a broad variety of municipal expenses because we have calculated, based on the formula that they used for revenue replacement, and we will be eligible to use this full amount as revenue replacement. What that means is that we can use it on municipal projects, operational expenses, we’re going to have wide flexibility in how we use those funds.”
The U.S. Department of Treasury distributed funds to the state of Alaska DCCED for distribution of non-entitlement units (NEU). The administration aims to bring forward a spending plan for the council’s consideration at a later date.
The ordinance unanimously passed the Soldotna City Council.
