Representatives from the Ridgeland-based Horne Group met with the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Monday morning to discuss prioritizing spending of the county’s $11.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.
ARPA is a $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill passed to aid state and local governments’ COVID-19 recovery efforts. Counties may spend their money in several broad areas: COVID relief efforts; premium pay for essential workers; replacement of revenue lost due to the pandemic; and sewer, water and broadband projects.
Now that the Department of the Treasury has issued its final rules on spending, the county met with consultants Timothy Smith, Chris Richardson and Ty Hardy to discuss new wrinkles in the process and how to proceed with prioritizing some projects.
Smith said that most of the county’s ARPA allotment could be converted to general purpose use.
Although the original guidance confined spending of these funds to very narrow areas, an addition to the final rule allows the first $10 million to be spent on a wider field of projects, ranging from infrastructure such as roads and bridges to the county reimbursing itself for health insurance expenditures that were higher than expected.
“There are more things you can spend the money on, but (the Treasury Department’s) level of scrutiny is not going to change,” he said.
The money still has the strings attached to any federal funding, he said, and is not a “free-for-all” opportunity to spend.
Because the money is coming directly to the county from the federal government rather than being funneled via the state, there will be a “heightened” documentary burden than is usually the case, he said.
“You’re the throat to choke if something goes wrong,” he said. “If something goes wrong, you’re responsible for it. Even if you gave the money to a hospital or a charity and they misspend it, you’re responsible.”
Smith said that the county should reach out to the community and see what they would like to see done.
“Treasury wants to see public outreach and that the public has the opportunity to make recommendations or proposals,” he said. “You don’t have to take their recommendations, but it’s good to check that box.”
He said Horne could come and host public meetings, or could coach the supervisors so they could hold meetings of their own.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks suggested the board members get together a list of projects and then let Horne review it to see what fits and what doesn’t under the program guidance.
Smith said he thought that was a good idea, but urged the supervisors not to waste any time. Projects have to be complete by the end of 2026, and money must be obligated by the end of 2024.
“That seems like a long time,” he said. “But most people are going to spend the money … on infrastructure projects. When you throw that in, you have to have engineering, you have to have all the things that go into that. That can drag out. An infrastructure project can be screeching in sideways to be complete by the end of 2026.”
Smith said his organization would also help the county to find grants to “grow” its ARPA award beyond the $11.4 million it has already.
“There are tourism grants, there are grants from the infrastructure bill that passed in the fall,” he said. “They have to do with water, broadband, airports, those are things that Lowndes County has. There’s an insane amount out there and we’ll keep you informed once we learn the needs of the county better.”
After some discussion, the supervisors agreed to pool their ideas and then rank them to see what the most popular were. Horne could then do a risk assessment on the suggestions.
District 2 Supervisor and President Trip Hairston said the board would take up the list and vote on priorities at its meeting on Feb. 15.
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