American Rescue Plan

What's the Plan? | Get Involved (Survey) | Grant Program | Expenditure Dashboard

Berks ARP Funding

The County has until December 31, 2024 to commit these funds and until December 31, 2026 to expend the funds.

Total Funding Expected:
$81,806,170

Funding Received:
$81,806,170

Funding Expended (See Dashboard):
$19,003,428

In addition to the County of Berks' allocation:

Berks County municipalities will be receiving about $96.7 million
Berks County school districts will be receiving about $160.3 million.

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law in March 2021, designating $350 billion nationwide to support immediate pandemic response, address economic fallout and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

The County of Berks received more than $81 million through the American Rescue Plan.

The County completed a thorough process of information gathering to prioritize the most effective and intentional uses of these funds, which included a community survey and a grant program. Funds are now starting to be distributed and can be tracked in our ARP Expenditure Dashboard.

The County is focusing on leveraging our available resources and collaborating with community partners to ensure that these funds will create a positive, lasting impact in our community for all residents.

What's the plan?

The County Commissioners established committees dedicated to specific focus areas to help address the needs of our residents and strengthen our local economy. Each Commissioner served as the Chair of a committee that helped to identify objectives, long-term benefits, possible collaborations and deserving initiatives.

Community Support Committee
- Chair: Commissioner Kevin S. Barnhardt
  
  This committee reviewed food insecurity, homelessness, affordable housing, mental health, health inequities and unmet social service needs.

Business Response Committee
- Chair: Commissioner Michael S. Rivera
  
  This committee reviewed programs that supported businesses to determine if there were still unmet needs. This included small businesses, Main Streets, Tourism, Hospitality, workforce development and manufacturing.

Special Projects and Infrastructure Committee
- Chair: Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach
  
  This Committee reviewed transportation, broadband, water and sewer and special projects.

County Operations - Assessment and Needs Committee
- Senior County Leadership
  
  This Committee continues to assess and document the negative financial impact on the County of Berks budget and operations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Survey

The County of Berks is committed to utilizing our ARP funding to create a positive, lasting impact in our community. To help us do that, we collected input and data from residents through a community survey. Please keep in mind that this is one-time funding and not designed to support ongoing commitments to fund operations into the future. Results from the survey can be seen below.

Click the above image to see a larger version of the graphic.

Click the above image to see a larger version of the graphic.

Grant Program

The County of Berks created an opportunity for municipalities, businesses and nonprofits that serve the County to apply for project grants made possible through the County's American Rescue Plan funds. These grants are intended for one-time financial support for projects that will leverage available resources and collaborate with community partners to ensure the maximum level of positive and lasting impact for residents.

The County Commissioners approved utilizing $18 million for these grants in 2022 and are condisering another $12 million for grants in 2023. The deadline to submit applications for 2022 was March 31, 2022.

ARP Grant Program Scoring Matrix

ARP Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions

On June 30, the Berks County Commissioners authorized the approval of $18,080,000 in project grants to 49 selected applicants, subject to the terms and conditions contained in a grant contract to be reviewed and approved by the County Solicitor's office. (See sample grant form of agreement )

Recommended Grant Recipients - June 2022

All questions about these grants should be directed to Karra Mayo, Grants Coordinator, at ARP@countyofberks.com.

Expenditure Dashboard

The County created a dashboard that will allow the community to track how funds are distributed As the County Leadership team makes decisions and allocates funds, the dashboard will be updated to reflect those expenditures.

The dashboard will outline disbursements using the following categories:

County Community Health Efforts
- Funding for projects such as COVID-19 mitigation and vaccination efforts and initiatives focused on improving and expanding public health.

Lasting Impact Projects
- Funding to support projects that will create sustainable, long-term positive outcomes within key community sectors, including housing, education, small businesses, food insecurity, agriculture and tourism

Infrastructure Projects
- Funding for projects related to improving water and sewer, access to broadband internet service, transportation and other types of infrastructure.

Grant Administration and Governmental Services
- Funds utilized to cover administrative expenses related to the grant process and to support County of Berks government services that experienced loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting and compliance

As required by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund grant program, Berks County must publish an annual Performance Report outlining how funds are being utilized.

SLFRF Recovery Plan Performance Report 2022