County Project Plans for ARPA Funding 

Notably, ARPA Federal funds are one-time in nature, hence counties focused on grants, capital projects, and
expense replacement reflecting local regional needs. Counties also received requests from the Administration to
consider investments in broadband and substance use disorder treatment, which counties took to heart when
deciding how to allocate funds. Finally, each county undertook a deliberate process involving one or multiple
rounds of public input and/or grant requests, and the expenditures by counties reflected such public, local input.
At this point in time, the counties report that there are no remaining ARPA funds that have not been spent,
committed, or otherwise dedicated to a final round of local grant allocation. The specific status of county
expenditures is noted below.

Androscoggin County 
Androscoggin County engaged in an application process to determine how best to
expend its ARPA funds. Through such application process, the County approved several different kinds of
projects, including projects relating to:

• Negative economic impact,
• COVID-19 recovery,
• Public health,
• Premium employee pay,
• Sheriff office facility upgrades,
• Capital expenditures, and
• Records management system upgrades.

The County was allotted a total of $21 million in ARPA funding and has no remaining unallocated funds.

Aroostook County
Aroostook County has engaged in an application process to determine how best to expend
its ARPA funds.  Through such application process, the County has approved several different kinds of projects,
and some have been completed while others are still in progress.  Approved projects include projects addressing
the following:

• Public health initiatives,
• Infrastructure upgrades, and
• Broadband accessibility.

The County has undertaken three rounds of RFP’s from various groups, and has awarded over 2 million dollars
to municipalities, non-profits, and other organizations. Additionally, approximately 1 million was expended for
public health initiatives, for items such as emergency equipment for ambulance providers, COVID-19
mitigation, behavioral healthcare for the jail, and homeless services. Stakeholders have been informed that if
their applications are not successful, they may apply for the County’s latest round of funding, which will occur
in 2024.  This has already been made known to the public over the last couple of years, and the County feels that
it would be a major problem to change this plan.   

Cumberland County
Cumberland County has approved several different kinds of projects, and some have
been completed while others are still in progress.  Approved projects are categorized into several different
categories, including:

• Public health expenditures,
• Negative economic impacts expenditures,
• Infrastructure expenditures,
• Broadband expenditures,
• Revenue replacement expenditures, and
• Administrative expenditures.

The County has allocated all its ARPA funds, totaling $57,300,874.00 allocated.

Franklin County 
Franklin County has approved several different kinds of projects, and some have been
completed while others are still in progress.  Approved projects are categorized into several different categories,
including:

• Septic infrastructure upgrades,
• Employee stipends,
• Various technology and communication system upgrades,
• Sheriff department vehicle upgrades,
• Broadband expansion initiative,
• Judicial facilities upgrades,
• Jail facilities upgrades,
• Affordable housing initiative,
• Childcare services, and
• Recovery housing.

Of the $5,865,802.00 allocated to the County, $2,803,345.06 has been allocated to the various listed projects.
The remaining $3,062,456.94 will be used to construct a building for the sheriff’s office.
Hancock County.  Hancock County has engaged in an application process to determine how best to expend its
ARPA funds.  Through such application process, the County has approved several different kinds of projects,
and some have been completed while others are still in progress.  Approved projects include projects addressing
the following:

• Economic incentives,
• Non-profit grants,
• Broadband expansion,
• Upgrades to infrastructure, and
• Technology upgrades.

Kennebec County 
Kennebec County has engaged in an application process to determine how best to expendits ARPA funds.  Through
such application process, the County has approved several different kinds of projects, and some have been completed
while others are still in progress.  Approved projects include projects addressing
the following:

• Childcare expansion,
• Public health initiatives,
• COVID-19 economic recovery,
• Upgrades to infrastructure, and
• Sustaining local animal welfare.

A link to a complete list of approved projects can be accessed by clicking here. 

Knox County 
​Knox County has engaged in an application process to determine how best to expend its ARPA
funds.  Through such application process, the County has approved several different kinds of projects, and some
have been completed while others are still in progress.  Approved projects include projects addressing the
following:

• Communication and technology upgrades,
• Infrastructure upgrades,
• Watercraft for Sheriff’s Office, and
• Economic stipends.

Lincoln County 
Lincoln County has expended $4,131,403.62 as of 3/29/23, and has approved several different
kinds of projects. Approved expenditures include the following:

• Hazard pay stipends,
• Technology upgrades for emergency services,
• EMT Basic Training tuition,
• Regional water initiatives,
• Sewer infrastructure projects, and
• Broadband grants.

Additionally, two projects are currently pending, including (1) a software upgrade for records management, and
(2) a countywide community navigator. The County has $2,595,844.38 in funds remaining which have been
fully allocated.

Oxford County 
Oxford County has engaged in an internal discussion process to determine how best to expend
its ARPA funds.  The County has expended $526,099.16 thus far of its ARPA funds, and completed projects
include projects addressing the following:

• Employee incentives,
• Computer infrastructure upgrades, and
• Audio visual upgrades for the County Commissioner’s office.

The County has three projects currently in progress which will take most of the remaining ARPA funding to
complete.  These projects include (1) an emergency radio upgrade, (2) an HVAC system upgrade with the
expansion of the County Jail’s medical facility, and (3) a broadband expansion project.  The County plans to
utilize any remaining funds, if any, to provide grants to non-profit organizations and small municipal projects.

Penobscot County
Penobscot County has expended or dedicated the majority of the County’s ARPA funds.
From the very beginning, the County’s Commissioners were diligent in communicating with the public to solicit
ideas for use of the ARPA funds. To date, the County had expended the funds on several different kinds of
projects, including:

• Government administrative services,
• Campus upgrades and facility needs,
• Communication and information technology investments,
• Non-profit services negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
• Mental health and substance abuse programming,
• Significant resources for day care options, and
• Working with local municipalities on various projects/cooperating funds.

Piscataquis County
Piscataquis County has expended $347,813.93 as of 12/31/2022, and has approved several
different kinds of projects. Approved projects include projects addressing the following:

• Essential personnel pay,
• Technology and computer infrastructure upgrades,
• Dispatch relocation preparation work, and
• Economic incentives for rural residents to gain access to broadband service.

The County has several projects in progress, including (1) further technology upgrades to accommodate remote
work, (2) material upgrades to assist in relocating dispatch, (3) remodeling the new dispatch location, and (4) a
new HVAC system for the jail. The “in progress” projects total approximately $2,762,000.00, and the total
expenditure for all approved/in progress projects equals $3,109,813.93. Further, the County is currently
upgrading a radio tower, which is expected to cost more than the $150,475.07 remaining ARPA funds once the
upgrade is complete.

Sagadahoc County
Sagadahoc County has approved several projects, including the following:
 Premium Pay for all employees for all months worked between March 2020 and June 2021 ($175
for union or $125 non-union per month) for a total of $126,601.79 expended,
 Air purification system for a total of $16,595.26 expended,
 Remote work capabilities: laptops and docking stations for a total of $12,327.77 expended,
 Courthouse roof replacement for a total of $1,068,561.00 committed, and $865,922.00 already
expended, and
 Communications upgrade project totaling $5,347,457.00 committed.
The County’s remaining balance of ARPA funds is $427,794.02.

Somerset County
Somerset County has budgeted and allocated all of its ARPA funds to a variety of eligible
services. Approved projects include projects addressing the following:

• Health services,
• Environmental remediation,
• General government administration, staff, and administrative facilities,
• Infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, and
• Public safety services upgrades.

Waldo County
Waldo County has budgeted and allocated all of its ARPA funds to a variety of eligible
services. Approved projects include the following:

• Construction of two large buildings,
• Legal and administrative handling of ARPA funds,
• Financial incentives of $20,000.00 to each of the 26 municipalities in Waldo County to use in compliance with ARPA expenditures (several of which are using it for internet broadband enhancement),
• Upgrading emergency and law enforcement communications towers and systems, and
• Construction of solar projects.
  

The County anticipates that all ARPA funds allotted to it will be expended well within the deadline.

Washington County 
Washington County has budgeted and allocated all its ARPA funds to several eligible projects. Approved project expenditures include the following:

• Property purchase of an office building that the County plans to renovate for the District Attorney ($152,596.00),
• Purchase of the regional communication center’s computer program used to track all the activity, police and otherwise, that occurs in the county ($366,044.00), and
• An architect for a new public safety building that would replace a building that currently houses the sheriff’s office ($16,536.75).

The County was awarded $6.2 million, and all remaining funds are allocated to the new public safety building
project.

York County
York County has no funds left. All the funds have been expended on a variety of projects, including projects such as a
Teen Center, a housing project in the Kittery area, and a new drug rehabilitation center. Additionally, the County’s funds
have been expended on several smaller projects, including:

• Mobile vaccine vehicle,
• Economic pay incentives,
• PPE safety equipment,
• Existing facility upgrades and renovations, and
• Technology upgrades for jail security.

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COVID-19 RECOVERY CLEARINGHOUSE

NACo COVID Relief Resource Guide

Maine Allocations for the Distribution of Funding
Broken Down by County and Municipality (multiple tabs in the sheet)

Maine Allocations