Cityscape • February 2022 • Questions Answered

The Iowa League of Cities conducted a survey in December 2021 to gather information on how cities are using or plan to use local government funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The League received a great response rate on this survey, having heard from 493 city officials and staff members. Highlights from the survey results are summarized below.

The top two categories selected were sewer and water infrastructure, followed by undecided and other.

Q How certain are you at this point in time on how your city will spend its APRA funds?

The League also asked survey participants about their top budget concerns over the next 3-5 years. Each respondent was able to select up to three options, and the League noted that this question might be more indirectly related to ARPA specifically, but used to consider the anticipated planning for local fiscal conditions.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the ARPA survey. Your responses provided great insight to the types of projects and relief that these funds will bring to our cities across Iowa.

The League asked cities to describe up to three areas that have had the largest revenue increases/positives to their budget since March 2020, if any. Although many communities responded with no increases, those that noted a positive revenue stream commonly cited the addition of online sales to local option sales tax collections, or COVID-19 relief funds like ARPA.

The League asked cities to select up to three areas that have had the largest negative impact on their budget since March 2020. The results for this question were mixed, but the top categories selected were: increasing costs, impacts on revenues due to COVID-19, other, and impacts on expenditures due to COVID-19.

ARPA was signed into federal law in March 2021, and provides for $65.1 billion of direct aid to every city, town or village across the country. The League and the National League of Cities’ year-long “Cities are Essential” campaign advocated for local government funding and relief.

Of note, this survey was completed just prior to the U.S. Treasury Department releasing its Final Rules. These Final Rules may impact how cities decide to spend their ARPA allocation. A recording of one of the webinars hosted by the U.S. Treasury Department is also available on the League’s Resources page.