Bonne Terre is yet another city in Missouri which is debating what to do with ARPA funds—and there are plenty of projects that would benefit from the much needed attention.
The American Rescue Plan Act is assistance from the government in the form of funding, in an attempt to help recover since the pandemic started. The funds go to different cities, varying based on their population.
Bonne Terre has already received 718,000 dollars in 2021 and will be receiving another funding of the same amount in August 2022, totaling over 1.4 million dollars of funding. The funding came after Congress enacted the act and the funds themselves come from the US Treasury.
Bonne Terre has yet to allocate the funds to any specific source. City Administrator Shawn Kay said that he recommends the funds not be hastily used and instead, Bonne Terre should wait and see what the rest of Missouri will do with their own funds.
“There has been some information coming from the state that they are going to make a portion of their funds available to municipalities for matching grants. We can use those funds to match those grants. I recommended that the council wait to see what the state is going to do before they decide how to spend the money”
According to the National League of Cities, the money given to each district has to be obligated by the end of 2024, and any funds that are not used by the end of 2026, will be returned. While the funds aren’t set yet, Bonne Terre’s City Council has considered using it to upgrade their water system, funding electronics to assist the police, as well as upgrading the HVAC system in City Hall to filter out pathogens to help protect against another pandemic.
