What's Going On with ARP Infrastructure Investment in North Carolina?

<p>A significant benefit of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) for North Carolina CED professionals is the availability of funding for investment in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure though the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRS). Where and how is that local government money being invested? <br />The answer can be found through The Local Government ARP Investment Tracker, created by a partnership between The National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and Brookings Metro, and updated yesterday (April 17, 2023). The Tracker provides ARP budgeted data through last December (2022) for all local governments except Tier 5 (the smallest cities and counties). The data reflect adopted budgets only, not proposals or expenses. So far, local governments have budgeted a little over 60% of their total SLFRF funds across a wide range of service areas, with the largest share going to government operations. While the Tracker includes all forms of local government investment, from community aid to public safety, the rest of this post focuses on infrastructure specifically. <br /><br />Nationally, only about 11% of adopted budget ARP dollars have gone to infrastructure projects. Within that, sewer and water dominate the spending sub-groups.</p> <p> </p> <p></p> Sub-Group of ARP<br />Infrastructure Spending  ARP Funds Budgeted<br />(Millions of Dollars) Sewer and Water 2,361 Public Space 919 Other Infrastructure 658 Broadband 622 Roadways and Bridges 347 Green Infrastructure 250 Public Transportation 87 Cyber Security 68 <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><br />In North Carolina, according to the Tracker data, $40 million from the SLFRS has been budgeted for infrastructure directly [...]</p>