American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

What guiding principles will the town use to determine spending?

The Town of Davidson will use the following Guiding Principles to determine spending: 

The Town of Davidson will comply with all legal requirements for ARPA funding.

The town will be cognizant of the spirit of ARPA and the intended use of these dollars to help those in the community most effected by the pandemic.

The Town of Davidson will seek an approach that will maximize ARPA funding to have the biggest impact for our community.

To ensure that the town is set up for success, funded projects will only include those with non-recurring costs or funding for pilot programs. No recurring expenses without a replacement strategy will be funded.

Davidson residents, businesses, and broader community will have the opportunity to provide input on all potential ARPA-funded projects.

Informed by the Comprehensive Plan, the Strategic Plan, and the Mission, Vision and Values of the Town of Davidson, projects will be identified by town staff, the board of commissioners, and the public that align with stated town goals.

Town of Davidson aims to provide the highest and best use of this one-time federally provided funding and offer a plan that will provide transformational and high value impact for our community in one or more of the following areas:

• Affordable Living and Housing
  • Affordable Housing has been a longstanding value of the Davidson community. The commitment to maintain an economically diverse citizenry and providing affordable housing opportunities remains a priority for the Town of Davidson. This lens has recently expanded to consider other factors that contribute to affordability more broadly in our community. 
• Critical Infrastructure
  • Davidson has a number of needs related to infrastructure across town that have been prioritized in a Capital Improvements Plan to be addressed over the next several years. Additional funding in this area could mean that these projects are able to occur sooner than anticipated based on the current schedule. 
• Historic Storytelling/Restorative Justice
  • Historic storytelling: This is a previously discussed idea and acknowledgment that history of our community of color has not been appropriately documented, communicated, and memorialized. Through this effort, and through the town-wide historic preservation plan, the town could develop a project or series of projects (in conjunction with community input) to identify initiatives that would better tell these stories, including plaques and signage in the West Davidson area. 
  • Restorative justice: A process where the town would engage with communities of color in Davidson to ask those residents what restorative justice might look like for our town and what could address our past inequities. This would generate possible projects and programs that can be brought back for town board consideration for implementation and funding. 
• Mental Health Response
  • The town's keen interest in mental health, the creation of the mental health committee, and the expertise of our public safety departments' best practices has given rise to much conversation on this important topic. The Town of Davidson Police Department has experienced increases in calls for service involving individuals and caregivers living with someone with mental illness.  Town residents are engaged and have formed non-profit organizations to assist, but all entities are struggling to serve all who need assistance and preventative advocacy. 
• Sustainability
  • According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.