Georgia cities have relied on funds from the historic American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to help their communities respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative economic impacts. Through the resources on this page, GMA is tracking local efforts using ARPA funds that are making a difference in the everyday lives of residents and the community at-large.
In March 2022, around the one-year anniversary of the passage of ARPA, GMA surveyed Georgia's cities on activities they have planned and/or approved from their first allocation of the ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. You can download the summary report below.
As some cities continue to identify the best uses of these funds, many have already implemented programs to provide relief, and in some cases a lifeline, to households, small businesses, non-profits and disproportionately impacted groups.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how to spend local ARPA funds, but cities should know that as they develop their own plans, they do not have to reinvent the wheel. The purpose of this page is to share examples and ideas from around the state that could serve as a model for your city.
ARPA and Georgia Cities: One Year Anniversary
Map: ARPA Spending in Georgia Cities
Click here for the recording and slides from the concurrent session Maximizing ARPA Relief Funds to Improve Your City’s Quality of Life at the 2022 GMA Annual Convention.
Deep Dives
Press Releases
Big Picture
Support to households, businesses and non-profits
The City of Newnan is seeking projects for "big, bold investments that deliver equitable outcomes and transformative impacts" until all funds have been expended. In the application guidelines, the City provides the scorecard shown here to allow applicants to measure their proposal across several criteria, including whether it serves a Qualified Census Tract. (Source: City of Newnan's ARPA Information Page)
ARPA funding is projected to give the City of Savannah a large and necessary boost in revenue at a time when communities are still healing from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19. (Source: City of Savannah's 2022 Adopted Budget, p. 245)