UPDATE: City, County Discussions Continue on How to Use ARPA Funds
Leaders from the city of Montgomery and Montgomery County are again discussing how to best use the nearly $86 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Their efforts are called the Montgomery Thrive Initiative, which was launched last December to seek community input on what to do.
In the past year, a website called montgomerythrive.org was launched as a way to keep residents updated and to give them an easy way to have input in the process. In August, a series of virtual town hall meetings was held to keep the conversation going.
Today, members of the city council and county commission gathered to talk about what they’ve learned.
The spending plans have been broken down into five categories: infrastructure, public safety, community impact, public health and economic development, with the city council going further, breaking them into subcategories to explore how best to allocate the money.
The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into federal law in March 2021. This Act provides state and local governments with financial assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal law allows these funds to be used in a variety of ways, from funding public health efforts that combat the spread of the virus to providing support to populations disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
