Report Prepared by: Venus Rodriguez, Finance Officer
Title
SUBJECT: Update on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Utility Bill Relief Program and Provide Direction of the Remaining Program Funds Totaling $572,015
REPORT IN BRIEF
Update on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Utility Bill Relief Program and provide direction of the remaining program funds totaling $572,015.
RECOMMENDATION
Provide staff direction on the potential reallocation of $572,015 in utility bill relief program funding.
Body
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200.
DISCUSSION
During the May 1, 2023, Council Meeting, the City Council provided staff direction on whether to continue to fund certain ARPA programs or to reallocate funding to other identified programs. One of the programs the City Council discussed was the Utility Bill Relief Program. The Utility Bill Relief program was allocated $1,000,000. At the time of this discussion, the City had processed and funded 166 applications totaling $189,889. The balance of funding in the program was $810,111, the Council weighed the options of reallocating the funding for use under a different program or to continue with the utility relief program. The City Council ultimately opted to continue with the Utility Relief Program and for staff to provide an update in six months. As part of the update, the City Council also requested staff to report on the number of residences within the qualified census tract that had delinquencies and the total amount of delinquencies.
City Staff has continued to receive, process, and fund applications from residents as well as continuing outreach. Since April 1, 2023, the City Manager’s office has received 74 applications, four were denied, 64 were approved (totaling $63,075.17) and 6 are approved and in the process of receiving funding ($8,576.04). Finance has also worked with GIS to determine parcels located within the qualified census tracts and identify if there are utility billing delinquencies. Parcels within a qualified census tract who had a signed payment agreement on file establishing hardship were identified and notified that they qualified for ARPA relief program funding. There were 140 of these accounts that were paid, totaling $166,445.
As of October 27, 2023, utility delinquencies totaled $704,270 (11%). There are approximately 1,000 active residential accounts within the qualified census tracts with $194,738 in delinquencies.
Funding of the ARPA Utility Bill Relief Programs as of 10/27/2023 is as follows:
|
Utility Relief Program |
Number of Accounts |
Amount |
|
Utility Relief Allocation |
|
$1,000,000 |
|
Customer Payments (1/18/22 to 3/31/23 |
166 |
$189,889 |
|
Balance Reported 5/1/23 |
|
$810,111 |
|
|
|
|
|
Application Process Approvals |
70 |
$71,651 |
|
Payment Agreements within Qualified Census Tracts |
140 |
$166,445 |
|
Total Customer Payments (4/1/23-10/27/23) |
210 |
$238,096 |
|
Remaining Funds |
|
$572,015 |
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No impact on City resources at this time.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Presentation