The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted in 2021, provided billions of dollars in funding to state and local governments through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program to invest in communities through infrastructure, public health, and economic recovery initiatives.
However, ARPA funds come with strict deadlines: all funding must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and fully expended by December 31, 2026. Any unobligated or unspent funds must be returned to the U.S. Treasury, which could mean missed opportunities to support essential community projects.
As the deadline quickly approaches, your agency may still have money left on the table. It’s your last chance to use it or lose it.
How can I obligate funding now?
The secret sauce to obligating all ARPA funding may lie in subawards. Subrecipients are not obligated to spend ARPA funds by the deadline. So, allocating remaining funding to subrecipients before the deadline would ensure that your community maximizes every dollar available.
Euna Grants’ Subrecipient Management Module is purpose-built to support grantmakers in distributing and managing pass-through funds efficiently and transparently. With advanced functionalities for collaborative application review and evaluation, shorten the time to award. Euna Grants has collaboration at the core of the platform, enabling inter-departmental, cross-departmental, and cross-agency teamwork. If your agency hasn’t yet implemented Euna Grants, collaborate with another agency in your region that is currently leveraging this solution to ensure that all your ARPA funding is used for impact.
Are there any exceptions?
There are specific exceptions to this deadline as outlined by the U.S. Treasury.
- Administrative and Compliance Costs: ARPA funds may be used beyond the deadline to cover certain administrative and compliance-related expenses, including costs associated with reporting requirements, Single Audits, record retention, internal controls, property standards, environmental compliance, and civil rights obligations.
- Personnel Costs: ARPA funds can be obligated for personnel costs such as covering salaries and benefits for positions established and filled before the obligation deadline.
- Contract and Subaward Replacements: If a contract or subaward needs replacement due to extenuating circumstances, recipients may enter into new agreements to fulfill the original obligation.
Looking ahead? Learn more about using Euna Grants to maximize your funding in 2025 and beyond.
Transform your grants experience with Euna Grants—an end-to-end solution purpose-built for both sides of the granting process. If finding and applying for grants is your priority, the Pre-Award Management module, armed with a research database of over 10,000 active grants and application preparation tools, and the Post-Award Management module, which ensures compliance, reporting, and task tracking is the solution for you. For grantmakers, our Subrecipient Management module enhances transparency, simplifies pass-through fund distribution, and ensures accountability.
Interested in both? Euna Grants is designed to support your agency’s journey from grantseeker to grantmaker. Explore Euna Grants today and discover how we can help you achieve your goals!