Don’t Lose ARPA Funding! All Funds Must be Spent, Under Contract, or Under Purchase Order by 12/31/24; Appropriating for 2025 Expenses is Not Sufficient  

Ensure that your township doesn’t have to return federal American Rescue Plan Act funds in 2025! All remaining ARPA funds 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. The U.S. Treasury Department has made it clear that appropriating funds toward a specific project or for the 2025 budget or expenses is NOT sufficient and will result in the requirement to return funds. All unspent and unobligated funds will need to be returned to the federal government in 2025.  

Any future projects that the township would like to use ARPA funds toward 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 two years, until December 31, 2026, to spend the funds under the contract or purchase order.  

Not sure how much your township received? Log onto the Treasury portal and look for “allocated amount,” which is the amount your township received and must spend or obligate. The allocated amount is the total of the three distributions sent to townships from the commonwealth in mid-2021 (one distribution) and mid-2022 (two distributions.) The allocated amount does NOT include interest, which is not reportable but is the township’s to keep. 

Please note that reporting requirements for townships are NOT changing. All townships must file annual reports, not quarterly. As such, townships will report in April 2025 on funds that were spent or obligated by December 31, 2024. PSATS staff will prepare guidance on 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 funds may be 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? Not sure what to do? Give PSATS a call at 717-763-0930, ext. 126 or 138.    

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