The City Manager has convened a citywide ARRA Task Force to review the Act, prioritize funding requests and coordinate implementation of projects using ARRA funding. Task Force members consist of three interdepartmental teams which include Public Safety, Public Infrastructure and Transit, and Social Services and Community Development.

City departments are developing priority lists of projects for use of formula funding that has been awarded, as well as proposals for pursuing competitive grant opportunities.

The goal of the City is to obtain as many benefits of the ARRA as possible for the residents of Phoenix. The City wants to use these funds to put as many people to work as quickly as possible.

Federal Funding Approaches

Funds will flow from the federal government to the City (and other grantees) through two separate mechanisms:

Formula allocations are increases to existing federal funding programs that are allocated based on existing, data-driven formulae. The City has started receiving word of new funding allocations to these programs from the various federal agencies that administer those programs. Similarly, the federal government is allocating formula funds to the State of Arizona, which in some cases the State can pass on to other entities including cities. All of these funds must be spent according to the extensive existing rules of these programs. To date, the City of Phoenix has received notice of approximately $184 million in formula funds. A summary of the formula allocations is shown in Attachment A of this report.

Competitive Grant Processes will be used by federal agencies to distribute much of the ARRA funding. Grant applications must be submitted quickly to meet tight timelines and only the best developed and explained ideas are likely to be funded. This will be challenging because great new ideas will have to be developed very quickly and then turned into outstanding, clear proposals. Extensive communications will be necessary with federal employees to understand their criteria and to make sure they understand the proposals. At this time, staff continues to monitor the timing of the different Notices of Funds Available (NOFAs) and grant application deadlines. A summary of proposed projects to submit for competitive grants are shown in Attachment A of this report.

Transparency and Accountability Requirements

All funds distributed by ARRA are subject to very strict transparency and accountability requirements, as well as certification by the Mayor for any City infrastructure projects that the spending is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds. Funding is temporary, and in many cases must be obligated and expended on strict timeframes or be forfeited.

The City of Phoenix has already been visited by federal agencies to discuss how the City handles federal funds. Arizona is one of 16 states that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will audit over the next two years to ensure compliance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The 16 states were chosen based on a number of criteria, including the amount of stimulus money they will receive, whether the money will be used for new or existing programs, and whether the federal government expects compliance issues.

Recommendation

We recommend that the City Council approve strong City action to obtain the greatest benefit of the ARRA program for the residents of Phoenix. We would request that the City Council approve the above plan for accomplishing this goal.

CITY COUNCIL REPORT
WORK STUDY SESSION AGENDA
TO:	Frank Fairbanks City Manager	AGENDA DATE:		April 28, 2009
FROM:	Karen Peters Government Relations Director	ITEM:	2
SUBJECT:	STIMULUS PROGRAM REVIEW

Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

Phoenix - All America City - 2009