City Council allocates $31.3M in ARPA funding requests

At its July 25 meeting, City Council allocated more than $31 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to fund transformative community projects for Springfield. 

The City received about $40 million in recovery aid from the federal government. Funds must be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. The council also set aside $7 million for homeless/housing projects that will be recommended by the City Council ARPA Review Committee at a later date. The committee anticipates additional meetings and discussions/recommendations for City Council’s formal approval in the upcoming month. 

Before the vote, Mayor Pro Tem Matthew Simpson thanked the ARPA Review Committee and City staff for their work, along with the organizations that submitted funding requests. 

“We were tasked with focusing on projects that were transformative, where we could leverage funding to make as big of an impact as possible and address our community’s greatest needs,” Simpson said. “I think we’ve come up with a list of projects that will achieve that.”

The City’s ARPA Review Committee, comprised of Simpson, councilmen Andy Lear and Abe McGull and Councilwoman Heather Hardinger reviewed more than 50 funding requests totaling more than $210 million. 

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