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 received more than $81 million through the American Rescue Plan.
The County gathered information through a community survey to help prioritize the most effective and intentional uses of the funds.
The County's focus was to leverage its available resources and collaborate with community partners to ensure these funds help create a positive, lasting impact in the community for all residents.
Berks ARP Funding
The County has until December 31, 2024 to commit these funds and until December 31, 2026 to expend the funds.
Funding Received:
$81,806,170
Funding Expended (See Dashboard):
$22,393,495
In addition to the County of Berks' allocation:
Berks County municipalities received about $96.7 million.
Berks County school districts received about $160.3 million.
Focus Areas
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 its ARP funding to create a positive, lasting impact in the community. To do that, the County collected input and data from residents through a community survey. Please keep in mind that this was one-time funding and was 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 allows 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.
Disbursement Categories
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 within key community sectors, including housing, education, small businesses, food insecurity, agriculture and tourism
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.