BRING MONROE BACK

Monroe County, New York Recovery Plan

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

Reporting Deadlines

Recovery Plan funding is required to be reported regularly to the Treasury. Below is the timeline for funds to be reported. 

Annual Report Period Covered Due Date

1 Award Date –July 31, 2021 August 31, 2021

2 July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 July 31, 2022

3 July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 July 31, 2023

4 July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 July 31, 2024

5 July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 July 31, 2025

6 July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026 July 31, 2026

7 July 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026 March 31, 2027
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General Overview..................................................................................4

Executive Summary...............................................................................4

Timeline..................................................................................................9

Usage of Funds.....................................................................................10

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category....................................12

Promoting Equitable Outcomes........................................................10

A Foundation of Equity.....................................10

Moving Forward.................................................11

Bring Monroe Back................................................................................5

Plan Development................................................5

Feedback and Prioritization................................6

Post Feedback Allocations...................................8

Bring Monroe Back Monroe County, New York

2021 Recovery Plan
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4

Public Health Negative Economic Impacts 

Services to 

Disproportionately Impacted Communities

Premium Pay 

Water, Sewer, 

and Broadband 

Infrastructure

Revenue Replacement

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021. 

ARPA allocated $1.9 trillion in emergency relief and recovery, of which $350 million 

is designated to support state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments. Monroe 

County, New York is the recipient of $144,080,127 in State and Local Fiscal Recovery 

Funds through the American Rescue Plan Act. These critical dollars will serve as the 

foundation of Monroe County’s recovery; they present a historic opportunity to make 

deliberate and thoughtful investments in the community.

Monroe County’s plan, Bring Monroe Back, will seek feedback directly from the 

community, engage and coordinate partnerships with local government partners to 

increase collective impact, and support currently existing plans, assessments, and 

reports. In doing so, Bring Monroe Back will be a multi-pronged approach providing 

a path forward for Monroe County that strengthens as it recovers and continues to 

support the County’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Federal guidance for funding has been provided through six expenditure categories:

Executive Summary 

Through thoughtful planning and conservative budgeting Monroe County finds itself 

in a stronger financial position than many of its peer communities. This will result in 

a decreased emphasis on the expenditure category Revenue Replacement.

A Plan to Bring Monroe Back

General Overview
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5

The Monroe County region has a significant number of current public and private 

plans, reports, and assessments, all of which have thematic and actionable 

recommendations. These reports rely on research by and testimony from subject 

matter experts and have been supported by direct community feedback. Given the 

tremendous amount of unfinished work these reports represent, Monroe County 

has elected to use them as the foundation of Bring Monroe Back.

The County has reviewed a dozen public and community reports to synthesize and 

categorize their recommendations. The documents included in this review are below.

Bring Monroe Back

Plan Development

The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council State of the Region 

Finger Lakes 2021 Annual Report (2021)

The Commission on Racial and Structural Equity Report (2021)

Lifespan’s Poverty in Later Life Report (2021)

Monroe County’s Adopted 2022-2027 Capital Improvement Program (2021)

Monroe County Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder 90-Day Task Force 

Priorities and Action Plan (2021)

Common Ground Health’s The Color of Health: The Devastating Toll of Racism 

on Black Lives (2021)

ROC 2025’s A Foundation for Growth: Building, Innovating, Accelerating, Creating Greater (2021) 

Monroe County’s Executive Team Transition Report (2020)

Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative Community Concerns Assessment 

(2020)

ROC the Future Equity and Education: The Next Horizon Report Card (2020)

Monroe County Community Health Needs Assessment 2019-2021 (2019)

Rochester, USA, IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Report (2015)
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6

Having utilized a dozen community-supported documents to identify Monroe 

County’s six (6) Priority Focus Areas, the County is now ready to solicit feedback from 

the community to help prioritize and identify funding general funding allocations for 

each Priority Focus Area. Feedback will be solicited utilizing three separate processes, 

and working in conjunction with Monroe County’s Department of Diversity, Equity, 

and Inclusion to eliminate barriers to access for residents.

The recommendations from these reports have been synthesized and it has been 

determined that there were many instances of duplicative recommendations, which 

demonstrates a consistency and alignment among the community’s needs. From the 

review, six (6) Priority Focus Areas were identified:

These broad Priority Focus Areas are further broken down into sub-topics that 

articulate more focused areas for investment. These areas are also supported by 

recommendations outlined in the various plans, reports, and assessments. 

Public Safety 

Public Health and Wellness

Economic Recovery 

a.

b.

c. Sustainability

Workforce Development 

Infrastructure Improvements

d.

e.

f.

Feedback and Prioritization
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 7

In person feedback options will be dependent on guidance from the Monroe 

County Department of Public Health. Should in-person public feedback sessions 

be appropriate, they will take place in diverse geographic locations around Monroe 

County, make available sign language interpretation, and where possible, will be livestreamed to allow participation that is more inclusive. Any sessions that take place 

virtually, will have a call in option for individuals to dial in and listen, and will include 

sign language interpretation. Digital versions of live community feedback sessions 

will remain online as a resource. 

Monroe County will conduct live public feedback sessions that will consist of:

A detailed explanation of 

the process by which each 

of the Priority Focus Areas 

was selected, and the 

documents, plans, reports, 

and assessments used to 

support this. 

An informative and 

educational presentation 

related to the American 

Rescue Plan Act funds, 

its available uses, and 

regulations.

An interactive engagement 

whereby residents will be 

able to provide feedback 

and prioritization on the 

use of these funds.

To assist residents that may not be available to make live public feedback sessions, 

a survey will be developed whereby residents will be able to provide feedback and 

prioritization on the use of the American Rescue Plan funds. Surveys will be sent 

virtually to community partners and will be available online in both English and 

Spanish. A hard copy of the survey, in both English and Spanish, will be available for 

the public as well. Monroe County will work with government partners to place hard 

copies of the survey in public buildings. Individuals will also be able to call the County 

Executive’s office to have a hard copy survey mailed to their address, or to complete 

a survey over the phone. All hard copy surveys will be collected and their data input 

for later review.

2 Public Survey

Live Public Feedback Sessions – (TBD: In Person / Virtual / 1 Hybrid) 
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 8

Post Feedback Allocations

Recognizing the importance of collaboration in the use of Monroe County’s American 

Rescue Plan funds, the County will also accept written testimony from community 

partners. This testimony should articulate directed need and potential usage for 

funding that supports the Priority Focus Areas identified from various public and 

community reports, plans, and assessments. This feedback will be utilized in final 

decision-making. While this feedback will be targeted to organizations and community 

partners, any resident will be able to submit direct testimony. This testimony will be 

able to be provided electronically at a dedicated email address or delivered in hard 

copy. Community Partners will also be invited to participate in live public feedback 

sessions as well. 

3 Community Partner Testimony

Once community feedback is gathered and reviewed, a more detailed Bring Monroe 

Back Plan will be developed. This plan will include funding allocations based on 

community priorities as identified from the live community feedback sessions, public 

survey, and community partner testimony. This plan will be made available to the 

public both online and in print format, by request. 
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 9

August-Sept 2021

Submit Interim Report – Aug 31

Review and synthesize current recommendations 

from community reports

Connect/review with government partners their 

plans/progress for their ARP funds.

Schedule and advertise Public Forums for Sept – 

Dec. Tie into Monroe on the Go. Use online surveys, 

hard copy surveys, zoom town halls, community 

testimony.

October – December 2021

Submit Quarterly Report Oct 31

Hold Public Forums, host surveys,

Determine broad funding structures, 

amounts, goals, etc.

January 2022 – March 2022

Submit Quarterly Report Jan 31

 Legislative approvals for proposals

Draft and Issue RFPs

April 2022 – June 2022

Submit Quarterly Report April 30

Final RFP award decisions and 

distribute funds

Timeline
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 10

Treasury guidelines require the use of American Rescue Plan funds to be used to 

promote the following Expenditure Categories:

Usage of Funds

A Foundation of Equity

Equity is at the foundation of Bring Monroe Back. Working with the Department of 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Monroe County will create an inclusive framework for 

gathering community feedback as further detailed in the Feedback and Prioritization 

section of this report. A number of methods will be used to solicit feedback including: 

geographically diverse locations for live in-person feedback (subject to change based 

on Department of Public Health recommendations), virtual feedback sessions with 

phone in options, and surveying for individuals who cannot make meeting times 

that are available online, in hard copy, or with assistance by phone. 

As noted, Monroe County’s plan for use of funds will be dependent upon community 

feedback, with one exception. Pending legislative approval, $20 million will be 

earmarked for Public Health efforts related directly to Monroe County’s ongoing 

COVID-19 pandemic response and community vaccination efforts. 

Public Health

Negative Economic Impacts

Services to Disproportionately 

Impacted Communities

Premium Pay

Water, Sewer, and Broadband Infrastructure

Revenue Replacement

Promoting Equitable Outcomes
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 11

By using a process that focuses on equity, Monroe County will be able to gather a 

larger sample of opinions from the community population and receive feedback 

from traditionally underserved communities as part of the prioritization process. 

The inclusion of a diverse array of voices during the prioritization phase will help 

create more equity in funding allocations. 

Further, Bring Monroe Back is comprised of recommendations of public and 

community reports, plans, and assessments, several that are entirely focused on 

equity, including the Commission on Racial and Structural Equity Report (2021); 

Common Ground Health’s The Color of Health: The Devastating Toll of Racism on 

Black Lives (2021); and the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative Community 

Concerns Assessment (2020). A number of others have equity infused throughout 

their recommendations and reporting.

Further reporting around programing will include how programs were designed 

with equity in mind including: (1) Information that would outline goals for serving 

historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected groups; (2) Information 

related to efforts to educate residents or business about the availability of services 

funded by the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds; (3) Information about access 

and distribution including differences in levels of access to benefits and an internal 

review of administrative requirements to determine if there are disparities in the 

ability of to complete applications or meet eligibility criteria; and (4) Information 

related to outcomes that focus on closing gaps and disaggregating progress by race, 

ethnicity, and other equity dimensions where relevant.

Moving Forward
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 12

Monroe County was fortunate to receive federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security (CARES) Act funds. These funds are required to be utilized by December 31, 

2021. Given the immediate usage need for these funds, Monroe County has elected 

to ensure that all federal CARES Act dollars are spent prior to utilizing State and Local 

Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), made available through the American Rescue Plan Act 

to ensure the highest level of investment in the County. 

Federal guidance for SLFRF funds is limited to six expenditure categories with an 

additional provision for administrative costs. Once utilized these expenses will be 

reported in the following categories. 

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

1 Expenditure Category: Public Health $0 $0

1.2 COVID-19 Vaccination $0 $0

1.3 COVID-19 Testing $0 $0

1.4 Prevention in Congregate Settings (Nursing 

Homes, Prisons/Jails, Dense Work Sites, Schools, 

etc.)

$0 $0

1.5 Personal Protective Equipment $0 $0

1.6 Medical Expenses (including Alternative Care 

Facilities)

$0 $0

1.7 Capital Investments or Physical Plant Changes 

to Public Facilities that respond to the COVID-19 

public health emergency

$0 $0

1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including 

Communications, Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)

$0 $0

1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other 

Public Sector Staff Responding to COVID-19

$0 $0

1.10 Mental Health Services $0 $0

1.11 Substance Use Services $0 $0

1.12 Other Public Health Services $0 $0
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 13

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic Impacts $0 $0

2.1 Household Assistance: Food Programs $0 $0

2.2 Household Assistance: Rent, Mortgage, and Utility 

Aid 

$0 $0

2.3 Household Assistance: Cash Transfers $0 $0

2.4 Household Assistance: Internet Access Programs $0 $0

2.5 Household Assistance: Eviction Prevention $0 $0

2.6 Unemployment Benefits or Cash Assistance to 

Unemployed Workers

$0 $0

2.7 Job Training Assistance (e.g., Sectoral job-training, 

Subsidized Employment, Employment Supports or 

Incentives)

$0 $0

2.8 Contributions to UI Trust Funds* $0 $0

2.9 Small Business Economic Assistance (General) $0 $0

2.10 Aid to nonprofit organizations $0 $0

2.11 Aid to Tourism, Travel, or Hospitality $0 $0

2.12 Aid to Other Impacted Industries $0 $0

2.13 Other Economic Support $0 $0

2.14 Rehiring Public Sector Staff $0 $0
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 14

3 Expenditure Category: Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities$0 $0

3.1 Education Assistance: Early Learning $0 $0

3.2 Education Assistance: Aid to High-Poverty 

Districts

$0 $0

3.3 Education Assistance: Academic Services $0 $0

3.4 Education Assistance: Social, Emotional, 

and Mental Health Services

$0 $0

3.5 Education Assistance: Other $0 $0

3.6 Healthy Childhood Environments: Child 

Care 

$0 $0

3.7 Healthy Childhood Environments: Home 

Visiting 

$0 $0

3.8 Healthy Childhood Environments: Services to Foster Youth or Families Involved 

in Child Welfare System

$0 $0

3.9 Healthy Childhood Environments: Other $0 $0

3.10 Housing Support: Affordable Housing $0 $0

3.11 Housing Support: Services for Unhoused 

persons

$0 $0

3.12 Housing Support: Other Housing Assistance 

$0 $0

3.13 Social Determinants of Health: Other $0 $0

3.14 Social Determinants of Health: Community Health Workers or Benefits Navigators

$0 $0

3.15 Social Determinants of Health: Lead Remediation

$0 $0

3.16 Social Determinants of Health: Community Violence Interventions

$0 $0
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 15

4 Expenditure Category: Premium Pay $0

4.1 Public Sector Employees $0 $0

4.2 Private Sector: Grants to other employers $0 $0

5 Expenditure Category: Infrastructure $0 $0

5.1 Clean Water: Centralized wastewater 

treatment

$0 $0

5.2 Clean Water: Centralized wastewater collection and conveyance

$0 $0

5.3 Clean Water: Decentralized wastewater $0 $0

5.4 Clean Water: Combined sewer overflows $0 $0

5.5 Clean Water: Other sewer infrastructure $0 $0

5.6 Clean Water: Stormwater $0 $0

5.7 Clean Water: Energy conservation $0 $0

5.8 Clean Water: Water conservation $0 $0

5.9 Clean Water: Nonpoint source $0 $0

5.10 Drinking water: Treatment $0 $0

5.11 Drinking water: Transmission & distribution

$0 $0

5.12 Drinking water: Transmission & distribution: lead remediation

$0

5.13 Drinking water: Source $0 $0

5.14 Drinking water: Storage $0 $0

5.15 Drinking water: Other water infrastructure

$0 $0

5.16 Broadband: “Last Mile” projects $0 $0

5.17 Broadband: Other projects $0 $0
Monroe County, New York 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 16

6 Expenditure Category: Revenue Replacement$0

6.1 Provision of Government Services $0 $0

7 Administrative and Other $0 $0

7.1 Administrative Expenses $0 $0

7.2 Evaluation and data analysis $0 $0

7.3 Transfers to Other Units of Government $0 $0

7.4 Transfers to Nonentitlement Units 

(States and Territories only)

$0 $0