(The Center Square) – Four years after the American Rescue Plan passed in 2021, Michigan still has $2.2 billion left to spend before the end of 2026.
A significant amount of that funding, $498 million, was allocated to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Of that, a historic $273 million is being used to upgrade aging infrastructure across 55 state parks.
“These critical federal relief funds are at the heart of many incredibly transformative projects,” said Kristen Kosick, DNR parks and recreation chief. “Visitors are already seeing or will see important upgrades and enhancements to park amenities and infrastructure, changes that are geared toward a safer, more welcoming environment, greater comfort and more positive guest experiences.”
While all the funding had to be obligated by the end of 2024, the state has until the end of 2026 to actually spend the funding. At that point, any remaining funds must be refunded to the U.S. Treasury.
The DNR received the funding as a part of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Building Michigan Together Plan.
“This unprecedented investment,” said the DNR in a statement, “has been crucial to the state parks system, allowing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to significantly reduce a decades-long backlog of vital repair and maintenance projects and support the development of a new state park in Flint – the first in Genesee County.”
The ARPA funds were designed to support programs and policies that promote social and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding, labeled flexible state fiscal recovery funds, had to:
• Support COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control
• Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses
• Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic
Many states took a liberal interpretation of how the funds could be used, with Michigan spending the majority of its money for Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy ($1.6 billion), Department of Corrections ($1.3 billion), and Department of Health and Human Services ($916 million).
As for the funding allocated for state parks, 122 of the 168 planned improvement projects at state parks have been completed or are in progress. That means it is 73% complete.
Kosick anticipates the remaining funding will be spent and projects will be completed by the 2026 deadline, meaning that the park renovations should wrap up in the coming 16 months.
