County supervisors discuss options for $29.7 million in ARPA funding
Jun. 22—Options for using the $29.7 million allocated to Kings County in the recently-passed American Rescue Plan Act were presented to the Board of Supervisors during their Tuesday meeting.
County Assistant Administrative Officer Kyria Martinez said the ARPA funding, signed into law at the federal level in early June, is designed to help local governments respond to impacts of the pandemic.
The money can be used for projects in four fairly flexible categories; responding to the public health emergency and its negative economic effects, providing "premium pay" for essential workers, replacing lost revenue from taxes and fees, and water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
"The funds are intended to provide support to state and local governments in responding to the impact of COVID-19 and their efforts to contain COVID-19 on their communities, residents and businesses," Martinez said. "These funds build and expand on support provided to governments over the last year."
The county is working in committee to come up with what projects the county's ARPA funding can go towards, including replacing lost revenue, funding for businesses, infrastructure projects and identifying areas of need in broadband coverage, among others.
Sheriff David Robinson was the spokesperson for the committee putting together the possible uses. He said the committee felt the board should prioritize replenishing lost revenue, which will free up funds from the county's general fund in response.
Martinez and Robinson said the exact dollar amount of lost revenue isn't known yet, but they recommended asking the department to calculate that number within a certain time period. The number was originally believed to be $12-14 million, but Jim Erb, director of the Finance Department, said recent data shows that number will be much lower.
The Health Department, having taken the brunt of the pandemic, should take the greatest priority in funding considerations Robinson said.
"We're moving forward, but the Health Department is really the focus of where these funds come from and should be delivered to, to prepare for the next go around," Robinson said. "We don't know what that need will be."
The committee was also interested in premium pay for essential workers in the county, but concerns over how to determine who got extra pay were brought up by the board. Martinez said they would want to wait to see how other counties dealt with premium pay before making a decision.
As students and workers across the largely rural county have to rely on unreliable or nonexistent access to broadband, many of the supervisors were interested in what broadband projects the funding could be used for, but the specifics of those plans are still open ended, Robinson said.
Supervisor Richard Valle said he was disappointed to see very little in the first draft of plans for the ARPA funding to address the disproportionate affects the pandemic had on Hispanic populations in the Valley.
Robinson and Martinez, as well as Supervisors Craig Peterson and Joe Neves, said they felt it was important to take time allocating the money, which must be obligated to a project in three years and spent in five, so as not to overlap with existing funding or ARPA allocation made by cities in the county.
Other Business
Public Health Director Ed Hill said 82,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in the county so far, but is at less than half capacity in daily shots. He also said the county has vaccinated 2,212 people ages 12-15.
The board also confirmed Chuck Kenney, long time deputy director of planning, as Director of Community Development.
