Treasury Releases New Guidance on Certification Process for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund

On April 15, 2021, the U.S, Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released its first guidance on the certification process for counties to receive their allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

PRE-AWARD REQUIREMENTS (UPDATED 4/15/2021)
Prior to the formal launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program, those entities that are eligible to receive a direct payment of funds from Treasury under the program should prepare certain information in advance as outlined below.

By undertaking these preparatory steps, eligible entities will be better positioned to receive payments from Treasury in a more timely manner after the program is launched.

Direct payment from Treasury will be made to:
-States (defined to include the District of Columbia)
-Territories
-Tribal governments
-Counties
-Metropolitan cities

All Federal financial assistance recipients must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) database at SAM.gov.

As a result, all eligible entities receiving direct payment from Treasury under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program will need a DUNS number and an active SAM registration to receive payment. The DUNS and SAM registration process may take several business days to complete. Therefore, Treasury recommends that eligible entities begin those registration processes if they have not already completed them.

READ THE FULL TREASURY UPDATE, INCLUDING PRE-AWARD REQUIREMENTS, HERE

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE EXPECTED
We expect that further guidance from Treasury on allowable expenditures will be issued in the coming weeks. We at the Wisconsin Counties Association will continue our conversations with Treasury, the White House and our federal partners.

Please stay tuned to your inbox for further updates. In addition, we invite you to join the WCA County Leadership Zoom Meeting on Monday at 11:00 a.m. for further ARPA updates.

QUESTIONS
As always, do not hesitate to contact the Association with any questions at 866.404.2700.