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A resolution appropriating $399,149.00 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from Fund #30216 to complete anticipated funding for right to eviction counsel
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WHEREAS, on June 15, 2021, the Metropolitan Council passed Resolution RS2021-966, a resolution which accepted grant funds for local government support from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds established by the American Recovery Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Count, which was subsequently signed into law by Mayor John Cooper on June 16, 2021; and,
WHEREAS, Resolution RS2021-966 established a COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee ("the Committee") whose role is to collect, consider, and recommend appropriate uses of the ARP Funds as designated by the Metropolitan Council disbursement plan. The Committee will submit its reports and recommendations to the Mayor, the Director of Finance, and the Metropolitan Council not later than June 30, 2025; and,
WHEREAS, there are federal requirements for use of American Rescue Plan Act funds that require that these funds be expended or obligated on or before December 31, 2024; and,
WHEREAS, on June 7, 2022, Metro Council passed RS2022-1559, which appropriated 2,600,851.00 in ARP Funds to Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (“Legal Aid”) and Conexión Américas for a two-year pilot program to provide defense for a renter or tenant opposing eviction proceedings; and,
WHEREAS, RS2022-1559 explicitly stated that “due to limited available ARP Funds, the Committee seeks to fund 87% of the first 24 months of the proposed request in Exhibit A, with the expectation that the remainder of the program may be approved when further ARP Funds become available”; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee now seeks to fully fund the remaining 13% of the requested funding; and,
WHEREAS, it is to the benefit of the citizens of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County that this resolution be approved.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. The Metropolitan Council accepts this resolution as a recommendation of the COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee.
Section 2. That $399,149.00 from the Covid-19 American Rescue Plan Fund #30216 is hereby appropriated to fully fund the original request from Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (“Legal Aid”) and Conexión Américas described in RS2022-1560.
Section 3. This resolution shall take effect from and after its final passage, the welfare of the public requiring it.
Section 4. Quarterly reporting from Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (“Legal Aid”) and Conexión Américas to the Committee is required. The required information includes but is not limited to the following:
a. Accounting of any disbursements of funds
b. Accounting of any and all fees related to the disbursement of these funds
c. Balance of funds remaining from the total allocation
d. Demographics of beneficiaries of any funds, including but not limited to Age, Race, Sex and Zip Code
Agenda Analysis
Analysis
This resolution appropriates $399,149 in American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”) funds from Fund #30216.
On June 7, 2022, the Metropolitan Council passed Resolution No. RS2022-1559, which appropriated $2,600,851 in ARP funds to Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (“Legal Aid”) and Conexion Americas for a two-year pilot program to provide defense for a renter or tenant opposing eviction proceedings. That resolution stated that the funding represented 87% of the requested funds, with the expectation that the remainder of the program may be funded when additional ARP funds become available.
The resolution under consideration appropriates the remaining 13% of requested funding to Legal Aid and Conexion Americas for the purposes described in the original resolution, RS2022-1559.
The resolution further requires reporting from Legal Aid and Conexion Americas including accounting of the disbursement of funds, accounting of any fees related to the disbursement of these funds, the balance of funds remaining from the total allocation, and the demographics of the beneficiaries of any funds.
Fiscal Note: This $399,149 appropriation, along with the appropriations per Resolution No. RS2022-1830, and Resolution No. RS2022-1831 would be the 31st, 32nd and 33rd resolutions appropriating from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARP) Fund for a cumulative total of $188,397,030. The total grant award is $259,810,600. The first half of this amount was received in July 2021 and the second half was received in July 2022.