The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) authorized the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), which provided $65.1 billion in flexible, direct aid to every county, parish and borough in America. As directed by the ARPA, the Recovery Fund provides payment to counties in two tranches – each containing 50 percent of a county’s total ARPA allocation.

Many counties have already received their first tranche from the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury). Now, counties are preparing to receive their second tranche of funding, which will be allocated by Treasury no earlier than 12 months after a county certified for its first tranche.

Earlier this month, Treasury released new information on the second tranche payment process and how counties can ensure they are prepared for quick certification.  

Counties should familiarize themselves with the below information as they prepare for second tranche payment certification:

• Section 603 of ARPA provides payments to eligible local governments in two tranches, with the second tranche payment being made no earlier than 12 months after the first payment

• Consistent with this requirement, Treasury expects to provide second tranche payments to local governments approximately 12 months after their first payment

• In the coming weeks, Treasury will open the submission portal in a phased approach, allowing counties to access the portal for 30 days prior to their second tranche payment date

• Counties will receive a notification from Treasury by email letting them know that they can enter the portal – it is very important to make sure that the assigned point of contact is still available to receive future communications

  • ​​The point of contact is the individual designated in the portal during the first tranche submission who will receive email notifications on submission status, including any issues found during the verification and communication regarding payments

  • The individual entering the portal for the second tranche submission will be the same individual with the registered ID.me who submitted for the first tranche allocation

  • If that individual is no longer with the county and you need to designate a new individual, email COVIDReliefITSupport@treasury.gov with the subject line “Entity Name – Update to Designated Individuals” and include the role that needs to be updated along with the full name, title, email and phone number of the new person designated

• After the email is received by the county, the point of contact will be able to update their entity information to include banking information in the portal
• In preparation for the second tranche payment, counties should ensure their SAM.gov entity registration is still active – all counties are required to have a SAM registration to receive their second tranche payment. Please note that the identification number for SAM.gov has been changed from the DUNS Number to the Unique Entity ID (UEI).