County’s American Rescue Plan Allocation Remains Untapped
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
When billions of dollars were doled out by the federal government last year following the adoption of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the money landed in the county’s coffers long before the instructions on how it could be spent. Or at least half of the $2,351,837 ßßYalobusha will receive arrived in mid-2021. The other half is expected to come in mid-2022 – money that was appropriated from the $65.1 billion allocated for local governments as part of ARPA.
That’s right, the county will have $2.35 million to spend on something… Yalobusha County supervisors – like most cities or counties that received ARPA funding – have struggled with how the money can be spent due to initial instructions from the federal government that were vague or conflicting. Early in the process rural water associations were identified as eligible recipients by the federal government. ARPA funds could be used to make necessary investment in water and sewer infrastructure. And with that early guidance, several water associations in the county started making plans for improvements using the ARPA money awarded to the county.
In January, 2022, more guidance was issued with new – final – rules that said the ARPA money can be spent “on any kind of regular ‘government services” up to $10 million. This final guidance will mean that supervisors will have much broader discretion on how this money is spent.
The topic surfaced in a supervisors’ meeting on April 18 as Board President Cayce Washington posed a question to his board.
“I have had two or three water associations reach out to me to ask what we are going to do with the ARPA money,” Washington explained. “My questions to y’all is what do we need to tell them? We need to be on the same page in what our intent is,” the supervisor said.
District 2 Supervisor Ken Rogers was first to answer as he pointed to another funding source, the ARPA Rural Water Infrastructure Grant Program. The program was adopted by state legislators during the 2022 Session and will assist rural water associations in the construction of eligible drinking water infrastructure programs.
“First let them know that the state government has set up their own fund to do that,” Rogers explained about this separate fund to help rural water associations.
Board Attorney Shannon Crow also provided clarification about how the county can spent ARPA money.
“Last year there were some documents sent out from the State Auditor’s office reminding us that just because it is legal under federal law does not mean it is legal under state law and state law is going to control how you spend it,” Crow told supervisors. “I am about 80 percent sure that you can’t do it unless you have the statutory authority,” Crow advised about funding rural water projects. “If it is illegal, your are going to get Shad (Auditor Shad White) on you. It is an unlawful donation. The money that we received is still subject to state law regulations, just like every other dime we have – the legality of the expenditures, the purchasing laws, etc. ” the attorney explained.
To break it down, Crow explained that a water association is a private entity and money appropriated from the county would be considered a donation.
The attorney is expected to provide additional clarification in the May 2 supervisor meeting, but for the time being he had a simple answer.
“Your board attorney thinks it is illegal, but he is researching it. Before you spend any money, you will know,” Crow said.
Supervisors ultimately have until Dec. 31, 2026 to spend the money.
