Receive update on the American Rescue Plan Broadband category and Quarterly Report, and provide Board direction. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Bryan/Gerney/Rinde/York)

Receive update on the American Rescue Plan Broadband category and Quarterly Report, and provide Board direction. 

ARP Broadband Background
On September 28, 2021, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the initial American Rescue Plan (ARP) Expenditure Plan, which included $500,000 for Broadband under the Strategic Plan Implementation. To date, these funds have not yet been allocated to a specific project/program within the Broadband category. At the December 12, 2021, Board meeting, staff presented an update on the funding set aside expressly for Broadband to leverage toward State funding opportunities. The following information provides information from the Broadband category. 

Broadband Grants: 
CPUC CASF Broadband Adoption Grant
In November of 2021, the Federal Communications Commission approved the establishment of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which allows individuals who earn under 200% of the federal poverty limit (or have other qualifying reasons) to receive up to $30 off their monthly broadband service. Those on tribal lands qualify for up to $75. These discounts remain throughout participation in the program.
On July 1, 2022, the County submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) an application for consideration of a California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) Adoption Account grant in the amount of $85,000 with an in-kind match of $15,000. The intent of this grant is to create a marketing campaign targeted toward eligible households with the intent of raising enrollments in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Currently, only 15% (5,210 of 34,653) of eligible households in the County are participating in the program. The County's goal with this first outreach effort is to raise enrollment by an additional 10% which is an additional 3,465 households.

RCRC / GSFA U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) Grant
In June of 2021, the County executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Golden State Finance Authority (GSFA), whereas GSFA will apply to the U.S Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration for funding under the American Rescue Plan Act to support the preparation of a Broadband Strategic Plan on behalf of County. GSFA will provide all grant project management and administration support. GSFA will also solicit and engage a qualified consultant(s) to work with the County to develop or update the County Broadband Strategic Plan. The plan will consist of identifying all existing networks, internet service providers (ISPs), services/speeds provided; descriptions of unmet needs of existing businesses; conceptual designs for networks; information on applicable federal and state funding opportunities; and recommendations on key project opportunities. As part of the grant, the U.S Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration requires a match of up to twenty percent (20%). The MOU stipulates that this amount will not exceed $25,000 in matching funds from the County. 
 
RCRC / GSCA CPUC Local Agency Technical Assistance (LATA) Grant
In August of 2022, the County submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) an application for consideration of a CPUC Local Agency Technical Assistance grant in the amount of $500,000. The intent of this grant is to partner with Golden State Connect Authority (GSCA) to develop construction-ready, low-level network designs for priority unserved/under-served areas of the County. If approved, the County would execute an MOU with GSCA for the purpose of engaging network design professionals to develop network designs for priority unserved/under-served project areas in the County. GSCA will manage the grant and the associated work products, allowing rural counties under-resourced and/or under-staffed to undertake pre-deployment projects that will help advance broadband deployment in the County. The program of work for the grant will be divided into three distinct phases:

At the completion of this work, the County will have ready shovel-ready construction plans that can be used when applying for Federal Funding Account grants for last-mile broadband connections. 
 

American Rescue Plan – Quarterly Report through September 30, 2022
The County of Yolo originally adopted ARP allocations at the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 28, 2021. At the same meeting, the Board adopted a policy on the use of American Rescue plan funds that required staff to provide a quarterly report. This is the first quarterly report to the Board of Supervisors, as the past year was spent on determining project-level allocations of ARP funds within the prescribed categories that the Board adopted. 

The County Administrator’s Office has been responsible for preparing contracts for the ARP contracts with support from County Counsel and General Services, Procurement Division. The Department of Financial Services is charged with reviewing expenditures associated with 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. 

Allocations
At this point in time, the County has allocated the entire amount of $42.8 million of ARP funds to categories for use. However, the County has still not allocated all the funds to specific projects or programs, and $8.3 million remains (shown in Attachment A). This $8.3 million remains in the following categories: 

• $3.1 million of funds in the Child, Youth, and Families category. Of that amount, $2.2 million was awaiting a needs assessment being performed by Yolo County Office of Education, $600,000 for projects that achieve equitable outcomes, and $300,000 for Child Welfare. 
• $1.3 million of funds in the Food Security Category. A request for proposals is currently out to solicit proposals for use of these funds, and it will return to the board at a future meeting. 
• $1.0 million of funds in the Housing and Homeless category. 
• $285,000 in the Mental Health category that was tentatively set aside for small grants. 
• $500,000 in the Broadband category, which will be discussed as part of this board item. 
• $750,000 in the Climate Action category. The Climate Action commission is expected to update the board in an upcoming board meeting on their progress. 
• $370,000 in the Economic Development category awaiting the results of an economic development study that was commissioned. 
• $1,000,000 in the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure category to support rural areas of the County. This is still awaiting the results of state and federal grant applications. 

At this time, staff do not recommend reallocating funds from these categories and would recommend continuing to bring these back to the Board between now and the next quarterly update (January 2023).

Expenditures
As part of the Board item, a Summary Report of the contracts has been included (Attachment B). At this time, $3.1 million in ARP funds have been expended, which represents only 7.3% of the total amount of ARP funds. The County Administrator’s Office and Financial Services will collaborate to outreach with agencies that have received funding to determine the status and see if they need any assistance, given that many agencies that were allocated ARP funds have not started billing on their projects. Staff believe that this is the appropriate approach at this time. As we get closer to the end of 2023 or early 2024, staff may recommend amending contracts that are unlikely to expend funds within the required ARP timeframes to ensure maximum use of these federal funds. 

Other Funding Sources
As part of the American Rescue Plan presentation on May 24, 2022, the Board of Supervisors requested an update on efforts to obtain grant funding for certain projects that may result in less ARP funding being needed to complete those projects. A status update is provided herein: 

• Knights Landing Park – The County pursued both a State Parks grant as well as a state budget appropriation for this project. The County has been notified that it was unsuccessful and not selected for a grant through State Parks. Since this was the final round of State Parks Proposition 68 funding, staff are not aware of other open grant funding opportunities for submission of this project. On the other hand, the County did receive a state budget appropriation from Senator Dodd of which $750,000 will be able to be used for the Knights Landing Park project. The project however still has a funding gap to complete all three phases in the amount of $1.8 million.
• Yolo Library – The County pursued a grant through the State Library as well as a state budget appropriation for the project. The County was notified it was the recipient of a tentative award for a $641,722 grant. The project did not receive any funding from a state appropriation during the budget process. Currently, staff recommend completing the project and performing closeout prior to consideration of reallocating any ARP funding. It should be noted that we don’t have the grant agreement yet from the State Library. However, staff are of the understanding the County may not be able to use the full grant amount as expenditures are only eligible if incurred after the grant award date. As the project is near completion, it’s unclear how much expenditures will fall within the eligible time period of the grant. County staff anticipate having a clearer picture if ARP funds will be able to be returned in January. 

Performance Reporting
As part of the process, Staff conduct performance reviews. In Attachment C, performance reports can be found for further information.

Department of Financial Services