ARPA Funds

The Town of Southern Pines has received a total of $4,671,148 million in State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). For simplicity, these are commonly referred to as "the Town's ARPA funds."

Southern Pines Activity to Date

The Town has allocated 84% of its ARPA funds for General Fund expenditures and the remaining 16% for Enterprise Fund (water and sewer). The tables below reflect the Town's activities to date regarding its use of funds received from ARPA. These will be updated as the Town Council authorizes expenditures for these funds.

Date General Fund Activity Amount Available Balance
9/13/22 Funding Allocation $3,063,114 $3,063,114
1/10/23 Funding Allocation $859,096 $3,922,210
2/14/23 Interest Allocation $24,009 $3,946,219
Date Enterprise Fund Activity Amount Available Balance
9/13/22 Funding Allocation $577,148 $577,148
1/10/23 Funding Allocation $171,790 $748,938
2/14/23 Interest Allocation $4,584 $753,522

U.S. Treasury Rules

The U.S. Treasury adopted rules that govern the way local governments may use these funds. The Treasury's rules permit local governments to choose to spend ARPA revenues for four main expenditure categories:

  1. A standard allowance to fund government services.  Local governments may choose a "standard allowance for revenue loss," without having to demonstrate any loss of actual revenue.  Electing the standard allowance permits them to spend 100% of the funds (up to a maximum of $10 million, as applicable) for any authorized government service(s). In alignment with a vast majority of small North Carolina communities as well as recommendations from the UNC School of Government, the Town of Southern Pines elected to take the standard allowance for all of its ARPA funding. Taking the allowance also allows the Town to maximize potential community impact while minimizing administrative overhead and reporting.
  2. COVID-19 projects to address the ongoing pandemic or its negative economic impacts on certain households, groups, areas, or the local government itself.  
  3. Premium pay to provide additional pay to employees who performed work in person during the pandemic. The premium pay is intended to be targeted to low- or moderate-income employees or those who experience unique financial or health risks from working during the pandemic. 
  4. Capital investments in necessary water, wastewater, stormwater, and broadband infrastructure.

The UNC School of Government helped guide local governments in North Carolina on interpreting and applying the Treasury rules. Read more from the School of Government here.