Linn County supervisors to decide on second ARPA round of funding in October

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Linn County Board of Supervisors will make its final allocation of $13 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding in October.

The applicants — among them not-for-profits and other local governments — have requested around $77 million.

The supervisors said Monday they would discuss the second round of funding at their Oct. 10 informal meeting, with the intention of making the allocation decisions at their Oct. 12 formal meeting.

Some 53 eligible applications, totaling more than $34 million, remain unfunded from the first round of awards made in April. Since then, 72 more applications, totaling almost $43 million, have been submitted.

“There's a lot of nonprofits and organizations waiting for us to make some decisions, but we've done all the due diligence to make sure applications meet the guidelines and eligibility requirements,” Supervisor Chairman Ben Rogers said Monday.

The largest remaining request, from the Cedar Rapids Public Library, is for $6 million for a new west side library and opportunity center, to replace the Ladd Library, which is leased and situated in a strip mall at 3750 Williams Blvd SW.

“We have a major ask that could take most of the funding, and I think the library understands we may not fully fund their request,” Rogers said. “There are other substantial asks as well.”

Some of the applicants who didn’t get funding in the first round include the Cedar Valley Humane Society, Affordable Housing Network, Kirkwood Community College, Prospect Meadows and the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

In the first round, earlier this year, the board distributed money in two categories:

• $5.5 million toward requests relating to social services, public health, affordable housing and capital investment.

• $5.5 million toward sewer and water infrastructure.

This time, the majority of the board wants more of the money to go toward that first category.

Supervisor Louie Zumbach proposed that each supervisor figure out where to distribute $4 million each and come to the October meetings with a plan.

Supervisors Rogers and Stacey Walker were hesitant to put a cap on the funding plans.

“I think our best bet at this point is to try and have targets,” Walker said. “I’m going to guess with the amount of requests in the first category, it’s going to be harder because the request amounts and the number of applicants are really high.

“Targets are fine, but they aren’t end all, be all.”

At the end of the meeting, County Policy Director Darrin Gage said his staff would work under the assumption of a $10 million/$3 million split or a $9 million/$4 million split between the two categories, which would provide those in the first category with more funding than the second group.

ARPA was a federal $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in March 2021.

The Linn County Board of Supervisors will make its allocation decisions next month on the second and final round of American Rescue Plan funding, accounting for the remaining $13 million.

Applicants — among them not-for-profits and other local governments — have requested a total of around $77 million.

The board said Monday it would meet to discuss the second round of funding during its Oct. 10 informal meeting, with the intention of making the allocation decisions during its Oct. 12 formal meeting.

There are 53 eligible applications remaining unfunded from the first round held in April, totaling requests of more $34 million. This second round has seen an additional 72 applications for a total of almost $43 million.

“There's a lot of nonprofits and organizations waiting for us to make some decisions, but we've done all the due diligence to make sure applications meet the guidelines and eligibility requirements,” Supervisor Chairman Ben Rogers said on Monday.

Some of the applicants who didn’t get funding in the first round include the Cedar Valley Humane Society, Affordable Housing Network, Kirkwood Community College, Prospect Meadows and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and others.

The largest remaining request, from the Cedar Rapids Public Library, is for $6 million for a new west side library and opportunity center, to replace the Ladd Library, which is situated in a strip mall at 3750 Williams Blvd SW.

“We have a major ask that could take most of the funding and I think the library understands we may not fully fund their request,” Rogers said. “There are other substantial asks as well.”

In the first round, earlier this year, the board distributed money in two categories:

This time, the majority of the board wants more of the money to go toward that first category.

Supervisor Louie Zumbach proposed that each supervisor figure out where to distribute $4 million each and come to the October meetings with a plan.

Supervisors Rogers and Stacey Walker were hesitant to put a cap on the funding plans.

“I think our best bet at this point is to try and have targets,” Walker said. “I’m going to guess with the amount of requests in the first category, it’s going to be harder. Because the request amounts and the number of applicants are really high.

“Targets are fine but they aren’t end all, be all.”

At the end of the meeting, County Policy Director Darrin Gage said his staff would work under the assumption of a $10 million-to-$3 million or $9 million-to-$4 million split among the two categories, which would provide those in the first category with more funding than the second group.

ARPA was a federal $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in March 2021.

Comments: (319) 398-8255; gage.miskimen@thegazette.com