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A resolution appropriating $175,200 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from Fund #30216 to the Music City Community Court to hire program navigators to connect tenants to attorneys and other community resources.
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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 Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP Funds”) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, 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 ARP Funds that require that these funds be expended or obligated on or before December 31, 2024; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes the important role of the Music City Community Court (“MCCC”) to assist tenants facing eviction, including making important community resources available; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes that MCCC must have sufficient staff to effectively connect individual tenants to the necessary resources, positions which are described in Exhibit A, and that providing a grant to cover salaries and benefits for these positions is an appropriate expenditure of ARP Funds; 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 $175,200 from the Covid-19 American Rescue Plan Fund #30216 is hereby appropriated to the Music City Community Court to fund the positions described in Exhibit A.
Section 3. This resolution shall take effect from and after its final passage, the welfare of the public requiring it.
Agenda Analysis
Analysis
This resolution appropriates $175,200 in American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”) funds from Fund #30216 to the Music City Community Court (“MCCC”) to hire program navigators to connect tenants to attorneys and other community resources.
This appropriation would fund two social worker positions related to the MCCC. These individuals will serve as program navigators to assist tenants in finding resources, including the “Right to Counsel” program that connects tenants facing eviction with lawyers from the Legal Aid Society.
Fiscal Note: This $175,200 appropriation, along with the appropriations per Resolution No. RS2023-1978, RS2023-1948, RS2023-1952, and RS2023-1950 would be the 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, and 49th resolutions appropriating from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARP) Fund for a cumulative total of $251,791,030. 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. The grant award must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and expended by December 31, 2026.