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How will Apopka spend its American Rescue Plan funding? Velazquez pushes for workshop

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By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor

Apopka City Administrator Edward Bass announced more details on the city's portion of the American Rescue Plan funding at the October 13th City Council meeting.

"Hopefully at a November meeting, we can come back with a plan from staff," said Bass. "Some of the things we need to be looking at is grant opportunities we're going to have coming up soon... and look at things in our budget, and in our five-year plan. I think we need to be thinking about everything that's on the horizon so that we can make sure we use these dollars wisely."

Apopka City Commissioner Diane Velazquez

"We still don't know if we're having a workshop on this?" Commissioner Diane Velazquez asked Bass.

"At one of the meetings I'm hoping to bring back to you a plan of all the different items we've got from our budgets and the different ways to spend the dollars," Bass said. "Keep in mind we've received $3.5 million and will receive the other half 12 months from June... and keep in mind during the budget workshops you allocated $1 million for road resurfacing. So we'll bring it back to you in November."

But Velazquez nudged Bass for a formal workshop rather than input from staff.

"So when you say you'll bring it back to us does that mean we'll do a workshop?" Velazquez asked. "Because when you bring it back to us, it's already kind of decided by the staff."

"If the Council wants to do that we can do that," said Bass. "Maybe have it on the same day as a City Council meeting."

"I think that would be best," said Velazquez."

American Rescue Plan in Florida: By the numbers

  • $8.8 billion for the State of Florida
  • $4.2 billion for Florida counties, including $271 million for Orange County
  • $7 million for Apopka

According to the handout, the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide substantial flexibility for each jurisdiction to meet local needs—including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. Within the categories of eligible uses listed, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities.

In addition to allowing for flexible spending up to the level of their revenue loss, recipients can use funds to:

  • Support public health expenditures, by – among other uses – funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, mental health, and substance misuse treatment, and certain public health and safety personnel responding to the crisis;
  • Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including by re-hiring public sector workers, providing aid to households facing food, housing, or other financial insecurity, offering small business assistance, and extending support for industries hardest hit by the crisis
  • Aid the communities and populations hardest hit by the crisis, supporting an equitable recovery by addressing not only the immediate harms of the pandemic, but its exacerbation of longstanding public health, economic and educational disparities
  • Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have borne and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service during the pandemic; and,
  • Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, improving access to clean drinking water, supporting vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and expanding access to broadband internet.

For more details, go here.

American Rescue Plan, Apopka City Administrator Edward Bass, Apopka City Commissioner Diane Velazquez, Apopka City Council, Money

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