Local brief
Pandemic aid’s last stretch: $2.3 million on Atlanta’s September ledger
A finance report shows 98.7% of two ARPA allocations spent. Most of the remaining balance was in IT and the pre-arrest diversion center ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline.
With a December 31, 2026 spending deadline approaching, Atlanta’s September finance report shows its two American Rescue Plan Act allocations nearly spent: about $168.65 million out of $170.93 million, or 98.7%.[1]
The Department of Finance report, dated September 25, lists a combined $2,281,436.01 budgeted balance across the two allocations. That is the report’s dated accounting—not a verified balance for October 28.[1]
Two lines account for roughly 93% of that remaining balance: $1,634,861.08 for information technology under the city’s COVID-19 emergency response, and $488,470.65 for the pre-arrest diversion center. Those figures describe amounts left to spend against the budgets, not findings that either project is stalled.[1]
The report distinguishes the December 31, 2024 obligation deadline from the December 31, 2026 expenditure deadline: committing money and recording its expenditure are separate checkpoints. Its project tables likewise separate amounts left to spend from amounts left to obligate.[1]
The Finance/Executive Committee’s October 28 agenda lists a COVID-19 funds handout. The committee’s presentations index links the September report as its September 30 handout; the records reviewed do not establish the contents of the October handout or how much of September’s balance has since been spent.[1][2][3]
Sources
3 official sources cited in this report. The bracketed numbers in the text link here.