Treasury: ARPA Funds Must be Spent, Under Contract, or Under Purchase Order by 12/31/24; Appropriating for 2025 Budget or 2025 Expenses is Not Sufficient  

Townships that had not yet spent or obligated their America Rescue Plan Funds received a personalized email notice from the U.S. Treasury with their remaining balance that must be spent, under contract, or under purchase order by December 31, 2024. Please note that “obligated” means that the funds must be under contract or purchase order by December 31, 2024. Please note that appropriating funds towards a specific project or for the 2025 budget or for a specific account is NOT sufficient and will result in the need to return these funds to Treasury in 2025. All unspent and unobligated funds will need to be returned to the federal government in 2025.  

To keep the ARPA funds, any projects that the township would like to do using ARPA funds must be bid and the contract awarded by December 31, 2024. Funds are also considered to be obligated if an item has been ordered for purchase but is not yet received. If a township has the funds under contract or purchase order by December 31, 2024, then your township will have an extra two years, until December 31, 2026, to spend the funds under the contract or purchase order.  

Please note that reporting requirements for townships are NOT changing. All townships must file annual reports, not quarterly. As such, townships do not file a report until April 2025. It will be in April 2025 when townships will report on funds that were spent or obligated by December 31, 2024. Updated reporting guidance has been released, which will apply to the April 2025 report, and PSATS staff will review this guidance and incorporate it into presentations and materials to assist our member townships in completing this report.   

As a reminder, ARPA funds can be used for nearly any normal township expense, such as payroll, fuel, insurances, and utilities; road, bridge, sewer, stormwater, public buildings, parks and recreation facilities, or other infrastructure; public safety costs, such as fire, ambulance, and police; and park and recreation expenses. The ARPA fund may used to pay for expenses between now and the end of the year or to reimburse the township for expenses from earlier this year. Want to learn more? Click here for PSATS ARPA Fact Sheet. Questions? Give PSATS a call at 717-763-0930.