American Rescue Plan Act Virtual Town Hall

media release: American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Virtual Town Halls

When: July 22, 4:30-6:00 pm; July 27, 4:00-5:30 pm

• How to Participate: Virtual Town Halls will be livestreamed. You do not need to register in advance.

Thursday, July 22 Livestream

Tuesday, July 27 Livestream

• More Information: Please join the Mayor and key City staff for a virtual town hall on the City’s budget process and the allocation of ARPA funds. The town hall will be an opportunity to learn how Madison develops its annual budget, financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of ARPA funding in recovery. The session will include participant surveys to understand your priorities for ARPA funds.

The two sessions will cover the same material and will be recorded. Presentations and recordings of the sessions will be posted here if you are not able to attend live. 

• Questions: Submit your questions about the City budget and ARPA funding.

The City of Madison will receive $47.2 million of federal funding through the State and Local Recovery Funds component of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to recover from the negative public health and economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City has adopted a plan to use ARPA funds to address critical community issues, support an equitable recovery, and continue to provide government services.

Investing in an Equitable Recovery

The City’s plan for ARPA funding focuses on five priority areas. These investments will support communities that were most impacted by the pandemic while allowing the City to improve long-term resiliency.

On July 6, 2021, the Common Council approved a plan that allocates $22.8 million to community investments, including almost $8.3 million that will be allocated immediately, with the remaining funds to be allocated in the 2022 budget.

• Violence Prevention & Youth Engagement - $2,585,000.

• Funding supports youth employment and programming, violence prevention initiatives outlined in the Violence Prevention Roadmap, and evaluation of the CARES alternative crisis response team.
• Homelessness Support - $8,650,000.

• Funding supports a variety of strategies to support persons experiencing homelessness in Madison such as a permanent men’s shelter and additional tiny houses, as well as an Occupy Madison Solar Project that will reduce housing costs.
• Affordable Housing - $6,650,000.

• Funding expands low-cost housing choices, including housing for youth aging out of the foster care system who need support to succeed at work and school. The plan also supports a tenant assistance fund that can hasten getting rental units back in service, expands financial assistance to help Madison residents purchase a home and make needed home repairs or energy-saving retrofits, and commits funds to help facilitate the use of available rental assistance dollars.   
• Emerging Needs - $1,000,000.

• Funding helps members of our community, including undocumented residents and seniors, gain access to services and resources that meet their basic needs.
• Economic Development - $3,915,000.

• Funding increases grants to small businesses, supports neighborhood business districts, brings art to vacant storefronts downtown, and aids the Public Market Foundation while their site is used as temporary shelter.

In addition to community investments, the City will allocate $24.4 million of ARPA monies to address deficits in the city budget due to pandemic-related revenue losses. City revenues were below pre-pandemic levels by over $44 million in 2020 and are expected to remain below those levels for the next few years as the economy recovers. Allocating funds for revenue replacement allows the city to continue providing core services to residents.