The City of Lakewood is accepting applications from organizations to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to address economic effects of the pandemic. The first round of applications opened Dec. 1, 2021 and closes Jan. 15, 2022. If more funding is available, another round of applications will open.
The City will host a Zoom webinar on Monday, Dec. 6th to invite questions about ARPA funds. A recording will be posted to the City website and YouTube channel afterward.
- Zoom Webinar: ARPA Applicant Q&A Session
- Monday, Dec. 6, 2021 at 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
- Dial-In Number: 1 (253) 215-8782
- Webinar ID: 857 8861 7407
Potential recipients of ARPA funds must use ARPA funds in a manner consistent with Treasury guidance. Funds are to be spent within four general categories:
- Support Public Health Expenditures
- Premium Pay for Essential Workers
- Replace Lost Public Sector Revenue
- Necessary Investments in Water, Sewer, or Broadband Infrastructure
The City intends to prioritize programs that assist residents living in Qualified Census Tracts. ARPA favors expenditures that address the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on low-income communities, populations, and households. Lakewood’s Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) include:
- 718.05 – Lakeview
- 718.06 – Springbrook
- 718.08 – Monta Vista
- 720.00 – Tillicum and Woodbrook
Applicants should carefully read ARPA eligibility requirements before applying for funds.
The City of Lakewood will receive a total of $13,766,236 from the federal government in ARPA funds. The City of Lakewood engaged the community earlier in 2021 to identify needs and potential uses of funds. The Lakewood City Council adopted Ordinance 759 in September, which established an outline of how ARPA funds may be used.
Policies within the ordinance included the provision of COVID-19 relief navigation services to residents and businesses and support to Lakewood’s “hardest-hit communities”, as defined by Treasury guidance.
Uses to date of ARPA funds by the City of Lakewood include participation in the purchase of a hotel for conversion to emergency shelter, the purchase of body cameras for Lakewood police officers, and an allocation for human services spending.
For more information about the Lakewood ARPA program, please contact:
Tiffany Speir
ARPA Program Manager
TSpeir@cityoflakewood.us
Ted Thelin
ARPA Program Coordinator
TThelin@cityoflakewood.us
How are police officers body cameras some kind of priority? The police should have to pay for it themselves. How is emergency funds that are supposed to help everyone in the community, proposed to be spent on something these officers should have had years ago and IF the police were honest (in general), we wouldn’t need to watch what they do via video or camera. I say NO to using these funds for body cameras. The police officers have other avenues to tap for funding this stuff.