Receive update on the American Rescue Plan Broadband Strategic Plan category and Quarterly Report, consider initial approval of the Guinda Grange Hall broadband project, provide direction regarding proposed reallocations and community benefit allocation plan, and approve the American Rescue Plan expenditure close-out timeline. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Gerney/Bryan/Tengolics) (Est. Time: 15 min)

American Rescue Plan - Broadband
On September 28, 2021, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the initial American Rescue Plan (ARP) Expenditure Plan, which included $500,000 for Broadband Infrastructure under the Strategic Plan Implementation. To date, only one project has been funded via ARP expenditure. This project consists of a partnership with RCRC affiliate Golden State Finance Authority (GSFA) to hire a consultant to assist with updating the County's 2015 Broadband Strategic Plan. In 2021, GSFA applied for a US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant in the amount of $125,000 with a local county match of $25,000. GSFA was awarded the grant in August 2022, and the consultant commenced work in early 2023. The updated plan is due to be delivered in late October / early November, commencing with a presentation to the Board of Supervisors.

For the Board of Supervisor's consideration, there has been a request to install Broadband at the Guinda Grange Hall to support a recharge-resiliency center and pre-pay for a year of service using ARP funds. The cost to do so would be $185 for installation and $3,600 for a year of service, representing a grand total of $3,785. If this project concept is approved today, staff will bring an agreement for final approval of the expenditure to the Board at a later date.

American Rescue Plan - Quarterly Report through June 2023
The County of Yolo originally adopted ARP allocations at the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 28th, 2021. At the same meeting, the Board adopted a policy on the use of the American Rescue plan funds that required staff to provide a quarterly report. Presentations have since been made to the Board on a quarterly basis regarding allocations, commitments, and expenditures under the plan.

The County Administrator's Office has been responsible for preparing contracts for the American Rescue Plan with support from County Counsel, General Services, and the Procurement Division. The Department of Financial Services is charged with reviewing expenditures associated with the ARP contracts to ensure that the costs are eligible and in compliance with the contracts prior to payment. The County Administrator's Office has been monitoring the performance of the entities under contract.

Spending under the ARP must be completed by specific deadlines. All funding must be committed by December 31, 2024, and all final spending must be completed by December 31, 2026.

American Rescue Plan Terminology
Allocated: Funding that has been assigned to different spending categories. (Priority Categories; Priority Projects; Strategic Plan Implementation; Other Funding Uses) 100% of the $42.8 million has been allocated.
Unallocated: Funding that remains to be assigned to different categories.
Committed: Funding that has been committed to a project/organization within the different spending categories.
Uncommitted: Funding that has not been committed to a project/organization within the different spending categories.
Expended: Funding that has been paid or transferred to different projects/organizations within the different spending categories through either upfront costs, reimbursement, or internal transfers.
Unexpended: Funding that has not been paid or transferred to different projects/organizations within the different spending categories through either upfront costs, reimbursement, or internal transfers.

American Rescue Plan Process
Workgroups: Workgroups were created for the priority categories (Mental Health, Community Parks & Facilities, Child, Youth, & Families, Food Security, Housing & Homeless). Workgroups meet to discuss projects.
Board Liaison Meeting: The workgroup lead, along with the CAO Liaison, meets with the Board Liaisons for the workgroup to present projects to Board Liaisons.
Full Board Presentation: After the Board Liaison meeting, the Workgroup lead presents the Workgroup and the Board Liaison Recommendations to the Full Board for consideration at the subsequent BOS meeting.
Staff Begin Contracts: Once the full Board approves the workgroup's project recommendations, staff will begin creating the contracts with the recipients.
Contracts Back to Board: As contracts are completed, Staff bring the contracts back to the Board on consent agenda.
Project Performance: As projects begin and move along, staff reach out to remind recipients of project compliance; performance reports and invoicing.

Current Allocations Status
At this point, the County has allocated the entire amount of $42.8 million of ARP funds to different categories for use. However, approximately $3.7m has reverted to their respective categories due to projects being canceled or otherwise not proceeding. Additionally, the ARP workgroups continue to identify projects which will be funded with the remaining $3.5 million that was previously allocated. A full summary of these amounts and some historical context for the totals can be found in Att. A. Allocation Summary and Att. B. Project Expenditure Summary.

In addition to these identified funds, there is the potential for currently ongoing projects to underspend their allotted amounts. As part of the upcoming reallocation process, staff intends to conduct a full survey and analysis of funded ARP projects and will develop an estimate for any residual funds that may come available due to any underspending. The initial review and analysis will be complete in January 2024.

Reallocation Recommendations and Timeline
Recognizing the need to commit and utilize these funds, the County Administrator has coordinated with County Department leads to develop a list of recommended projects in alignment with internal and federal ARP funding-use policies and guidance, including potential use of the revenue replacement option as noted in Att. C. ARP Requests and Recommendations. The recommendations found in Att. C. are divided into four categories: Recommended, Eligible for Existing Allocation, Tentative, or Not Recommended. Staff also reviewed unsolicited external requests, but many of these lacked sufficient information for a full evaluation. At this time, the total sum of the recommended projects totals $2,881,372 and includes $100,000 to be provided to each supervisorial district, for a total of $500,000, as part of a community benefit equal allocation plan. These funds would be intended to provide community benefit consistent with relevant guidelines. Staff recommends a minimum project threshold of $25,000 to mitigate administrative burden.

Staff recommends the Board approve this reallocation from the $3.7m from canceled projects. Staff then contemplates returning to the Board in September 2023. In that time staff will work with the workgroups to identify projects to expend the $3.5m in remaining allocations. Staff will then present any final reallocation recommendations, including tentative departmental requests and external requests, alongside the Adopted Budget. Once these recommendations are approved, staff will begin generating contracts/agreements with the expectation of returning to the Board for contract approval in December 2023. In addition, an estimate of additional residual funds due to project underspending would be brought to the Board in early 2024.

Alternatively, the Board could direct staff to transfer funds from canceled projects and/or unspent existing allocations to revenue replacement, as allowed by ARP, and proceed with a separate reallocation process that would not be subject to reporting or timeline constraints. Under this process, the reallocation could be directed to new projects, or augment previously identified projects. The Department of Financial Services has advised that such a process would be consistent with ARP guidelines.

Expenditures
As part of the Board item, a Summary Report of contracted spending activity has been included, which is shown in Att. B. Project Expenditure Summary. At the last quarterly report in April, $7.5 million in ARP funds had been expended, representing 17.5% of the total amount of ARP funds. As of June 2023, $9.8 million in ARP funds have been expended, representing 22.8% of the total funding. As in earlier reports, there are many projects that have not begun invoicing yet. This is largely due to large projects that are either just now finishing contracting, or that have been contracted and are still in the construction/pre-work phase. As these and similar projects begin expensing in the next several months, we can expect to see total expenditures under ARP increase rapidly.

Performance Reporting
All ARP contracts include provisions requiring regular reporting from funding recipients, typically on a quarterly basis. The most recent quarterly and/or final project reports are included as Att. D. Project Reports.

Department of Financial Services
Information Technology Services