Douglas County, Nebraska

Recovery Plan 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery 

Funds

2021 Report

Douglas County, Nebraska

2021 Recovery Plan
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1

Table of Contents

General Overview......................................................................................................................2

Executive Summary.................................................................................................................2

Uses of Funds .........................................................................................................................3

Promoting Equitable Outcomes ...............................................................................................4

Community Engagement .........................................................................................................4

Labor Practices .......................................................................................................................4

Use of Evidence ......................................................................................................................4

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category...........................................................................4

Project Inventory.......................................................................................................................6

Example Project .....................................................................................................................6

Additional Projects...................................................................................................................6

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision ..............................................................................6
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Executive Summary 

The Douglas County, Nebraska Board of Commissioners has not passed any resolutions which 

reflect final decisions on how to spend the $55.4 million it received in ARPA funds in May, 2021. 

The County Board has held several open meetings to get input from the public on how to best 

allocate the funds. The County Board created an ARPA Strategy Committee to consider these 

funding requests and will make recommendations on specific projects to the County Board in 

the near future. Any project will need to receive a majority of votes from the seven 

commissioners before funds are formally allocated to that project. The County will submit an 

updated Recovery Plan within 60 days of an allocation plan being approved by the County 

Board.

To date, the only resolution that the Douglas County Board has passed which deals with the 

ARPA funds was on August 3, 2021. The one-page resolution states that the Strategy 

Committee will develop recommendations to the County Board regarding a process and the 

priorities for the use of the ARPA funds.

Douglas County was the recipient of $166 million of CARES Act funding which was appropriated 

to projects and programs which provided services to the community including rent and utility 

assistance programs and awards to community non-profits serving marginalized communities in 

North Omaha (primarily people of color) and South Omaha (primarily Hispanic residents) with 

food pantries, social services, and COVID-related health services. It is anticipated that these 

communities will continue to benefit from projects funded by the County’s ARPA award.

Douglas County is also currently participating in the ERA(1) program and is providing 

assistance to people in need in areas outside the Omaha city limits, while the City of Omaha is 

providing similar services to residents in need within the city limits.
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3

Uses of Funds

Public Health, Negative Economic Impacts, Services to Disproportionately Impacted 

Communities:

The resolution passed by the County Board clearly identifies that mental health initiatives will be 

a top priority when considering how to allocate the ARPA funding. The specific mental health 

projects and programs are currently being developed with the intent of recommending them for 

County Board approval.

The resolution also states that projects administered by County departments which provide 

services and benefits to Douglas County residents, especially those living in disproportionately 

impacted communities, will be considered first for County Board approval. After these County 

projects are approved, then requests from other sectors within the County’s geographical 

boundaries will be considered by the County Board. Each request will be vetted with the 

County’s project consultant, Deloitte and Touche, to determine if they meet the Treasury’s 

ARPA guidelines before the Strategy Committee recommends them for Board approval.

Another use of ARPA funds will be to support the Douglas County Health Department (DCHD) 

in its efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The DCHD is overseeing the only County-run 

vaccination program in Nebraska, as all the other smaller counties have let the State run their 

COVID-19 related programs. Discussions are currently underway with the State and FEMA to 

determine how much of the DCHD COVID-related expenses will be reimbursed by these 

sources. It is anticipated that some of the County’s ARPA funding will be used to reimburse 

Douglas County for these COVID-related expenses which will not be reimbursed by the State or 

FEMA.

Douglas County also has designated Qualified Census Tracts (QCT) within its boundaries and 

is anticipating the use of ARPA funds to support qualifying services within these areas. The 

specific qualifying programs are currently being analyzed and developed.

Premium Pay; Water, Sewer and Broadband Infrastructure: To be determined.

Revenue Replacement: The County has done the calculation and has determined that it can 

use $2,165,042 of the ARPA funding for Revenue Replacement purposes.
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4

Promoting Equitable Outcomes, Community Engagement, Labor Practices, and Use of 

Evidence: All these areas will be addressed when the County submits its updated Recovery 

Plan.

Expenses by Expenditure Category: To be determined.

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

This section has been left blank as no ARPA funds were expended during the reporting period.

Category Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

1 Expenditure Category: Public Health 0 0

1.1 COVID-19 Vaccination

1.2 COVID-19 Testing

1.3 COVID-19 Contact Tracing

1.4 Prevention in Congregate Settings (Nursing 

Homes, Prisons/Jails, Dense Work Sites, 

Schools, etc.)

1.5 Personal Protective Equipment

1.6 Medical Expenses (including Alternative Care 

Facilities)

1.7 Capital Investments or Physical Plant Changes 

to Public Facilities that respond to the COVID19 public health emergency

1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses 

(including Communications, Enforcement, 

Isolation/Quarantine)

1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and 

Other Public Sector Staff Responding to 

COVID-19

1.10 Mental Health Services

1.11 Substance Use Services

1.12 Other Public Health Services

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic 

Impacts

0 0

2.1 Household Assistance: Food Programs 

2.2 Household Assistance: Rent, Mortgage, and 

Utility Aid 
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5

Category Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

2.3 Household Assistance: Cash Transfers 

2.4 Household Assistance: Internet Access 

Programs

2.5 Household Assistance: Eviction Prevention

2.6 Unemployment Benefits or Cash Assistance to 

Unemployed Workers

2.7 Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral jobtraining, Subsidized Employment, Employment 

Supports or Incentives)

2.8 Contributions to UI Trust Funds*

2.9 Small Business Economic Assistance (General)

2.10 Aid to nonprofit organizations

2.11 Aid to Tourism, Travel, or Hospitality

2.12 Aid to Other Impacted Industries

2.13 Other Economic Support 

2.14 Rehiring Public Sector Staff

3 Expenditure Category: Services to 

Disproportionately Impacted Communities

0 0

3.1 Education Assistance: Early Learning 

3.2 Education Assistance: Aid to High-Poverty 

Districts

3.3 Education Assistance: Academic Services 

3.4 Education Assistance: Social, Emotional, and 

Mental Health Services 

3.5 Education Assistance: Other 

3.6 Healthy Childhood Environments: Child Care 

3.7 Healthy Childhood Environments: Home Visiting 

3.8 Healthy Childhood Environments: Services to 

Foster Youth or Families Involved in Child 

Welfare System 

3.9. Healthy Childhood Environments: Other 

3.10 Housing Support: Affordable Housing 

3.11 Housing Support: Services for Unhoused 

persons 

3.12 Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance 

3.13 Social Determinants of Health: Other 

3.14 Social Determinants of Health: Community 

Health Workers or Benefits Navigators 

3.15 Social Determinants of Health: Lead 

Remediation

3.16 Social Determinants of Health: Community 

Violence Interventions 

4 Expenditure Category: Premium Pay 0 0
Douglas County, Nebraska 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6

Category Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

4.1 Public Sector Employees

4.2 Private Sector: Grants to other employers 

5 Expenditure Category: Infrastructure 0 0

5.1 Clean Water: Centralized wastewater treatment

5.2 Clean Water: Centralized wastewater collection 

and conveyance

5.3 Clean Water: Decentralized wastewater

5.4 Clean Water: Combined sewer overflows

5.5 Clean Water: Other sewer infrastructure

5.6 Clean Water: Stormwater

5.7 Clean Water: Energy conservation

5.8 Clean Water: Water conservation

5.9 Clean Water: Nonpoint source 

5.10 Drinking water: Treatment

5.11 Drinking water: Transmission & distribution

5.12 Drinking water: Transmission & distribution: 

lead remediation

5.13 Drinking water: Source

5.14 Drinking water: Storage 

5.15 Drinking water: Other water infrastructure

5.16 Broadband: “Last Mile” projects

5.17 Broadband: Other projects

6 Expenditure Category: Revenue Replacement 0 0

6.1 Provision of Government Services

7 Administrative and Other 0 0

7.1 Administrative Expenses 

7.2 Evaluation and data analysis 

7.3 Transfers to Other Units of Government

7.4 Transfers to Nonentitlement Units 

(States and Territories only)

Project Inventory and Performance Report: As of August 31, 2021, no specific projects have 

been approved by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision (States and territories only)

This section does not apply to Counties.