Dodge County Leaders Set Guidelines On How To Spend ARPA Funding

(Juneau) Dodge County leaders have laid the groundwork on how the county will spend its American Rescue Plan Act funding. The county is slated to receive just over $17-million in Rescue Act dollars. Counties must commit to spending the money no later than 2024 and be expended by the end of 2026. There were over $72-million-dollars in project proposals submitted by various municipalities, organizations, and county agencies that seek a portion of the funding.  

The ARPA Project Evaluation Committee was created to review each submission and score them. During their first meeting recently, the committee discussed their scoring criteria. Supervisor Russ Kottke says a key component for which projects ultimately get selected is its community reach.  

The committee also established scoring each proposal based on feasibility, its measurable outcomes, and if there are other funding sources available. Supervisor Andrew Johnson suggested spending roughly half this year and half next year. He says that the money should go to a wide variety of projects. 

The committee will meet again next month to score half of the proposals and again in April to score the other half. The goal is to have the county board vote on several projects at their May meeting.