The scoring rubric was created by the Recovery Office in response to identified community priorities for use of pandemic recovery funds.
An initial set of criteria was created by synthesizing the feedback collected from the ARPA Town Halls, the survey of Montgomery County Residents, and direct responses from community partners, along with examples created by other counties and municipalities. Those criteria were combined into 10 specific metrics across three sections that address ARPA Intent, Project Viability, and Community Impact.
From there, a 0-3 scoring system was established for each criterion that rates each as “Not Present (0 Points),” Adequate (1 Point),” “Good (2 Points),” or “Great (3 Points).” Clear justifications were then written for each respective score of each criterion.
To treat each criterion individually and to prevent one criterion or section from over-influencing a submitted project’s evaluation, the Recovery Office developed a weighted average formula. Relative weights were developed by Recovery Office staff with input from Montgomery County management, community partners, and other external resources.