The Manchester Board of Directors is working on the Town’s funding plan and would like to hear from you. What are your recommendations/suggestions/ideas for this significant investment to address town needs? Take the survey below to share your thoughts.

(Please review the General Guidelines and Eligible Uses information and provide your feedback on the form provided.)

• Please click here to take the survey (English)
• Please click here to take the survey (Spanish)

The link will be open until September 27, 2021. 

 The Survey will ask residents to rank potential investment categories that the Town has determined as eligible under ARPA guidelines:

• Investments in Human Services to promote the health and well-being of Manchester residents
• Improvements to parks, playgrounds, and greenspace
• Improvements to Main Street & Downtown
• Arts & culture investments
• Improving existing Town buildings
• Repurposing vacant schools
• Updating and investing in Town roads & infrastructure
• Water & Sewer system upgrades and improvements
• Grants to non-profits and mission-driven organizations supporting Manchester residents
• Small Business Assistance to support businesses most impact by the pandemic
• Sustainability & Environmental Resiliency
• Public Health Preparedness
• Public Safety + Emergency Medical Services

GENERAL GUIDELINES

The goal of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is to help all levels of government respond to the COVID-19 emergency and its economic impacts by:

• Supporting urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease the spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control;
• Replacing lost public sector revenue to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs;
• Supporting immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses; and,
• Addressing systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic on certain populations.

The guidelines provide flexibility for meeting local needs, including support for small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, households, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis.

POTENTIAL ELIGIBLE USES CATEGORIES

• Support for public health response, such as COVID-19 containment/prevention, medical expenses, behavioral/mental healthcare; some public health and safety staff pay and/or benefits
  Examples provided by Department of the Treasury include: COVID mitigation and prevention, enhancing healthcare capacity and public health data systems, capital improvements to meet pandemic needs, ventilation improvements in key settings like healthcare facilities, mental health or substance abuse treatment, crisis intervention, outreach/education to promote access to health services.
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, such as economic harms to workers, households, small business, nonprofits, impacted industries and the public sector
  Examples provided by Department of the Treasury include: delivering assistance to workers and families, supporting small businesses and nonprofits, speeding the recovery of the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors, rebuilding public sector capacity and supporting economic development.
• Serve the hardest hit communities and families, broad range of uses to address the disproportionate public health and economic impacts of the crisis on the hardest-hit communities, populations, and households
  Examples provided by Department of the Treasury include: addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health, investments in housing and neighborhoods, addressing educational disparities through new or expanded early learning services, promoting healthy childhood environments. 
• Invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, by making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and storm water infrastructure and to expand access to broadband internet.
  Examples provided by Department of the Treasury include: new projects or upgrades related to drinking water, wastewater, storm water, subsurface water, and broadband at speeds sufficient for education/business use, particularly in unserved or underserved areas and projects that bring broadband to homes and businesses.

• Investment in Town government services to replace revenue lost as a result of the pandemic. Examples provided by the Department of the Treasury include, but are not limited to, maintenance of infrastructure or pay-go spending for building new infrastructure, including roads; modernization of cybersecurity, including hardware, software, and protection of critical infrastructure; health services; environmental remediation; school or educational services; and the provision of police, fire, and other public safety services.

Restrictions on the uses of the federal money prevent cities and towns from directly or indirectly using funds to offset tax reductions or delay a tax or tax increase, and funds cannot be deposited into any pension fund.

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Contact: Steve Stephanou, Acting General Manager, [email protected] / 860.647.3123