Lauderdale County supervisors are scrambling to determine how best to spend about $212,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds before they are returned to the federal government. A federal law passed in 2021 sets a Dec. 31 deadline for funding to be lost unless it is squeezed.
During Thursday’s work session, County Administrator Chris Rafferty said the county currently has $421,297 in unencumbered ARPA funds in the general fund and an additional $689,707 in unencumbered restricted funds. said. General funds can be used for most purchases, while restricted funds are for water, sewer and other construction and cannot be used for anything else.
“It has to be mandatory by December 31 of this year, regardless of which column you’re covering,” he said.
Working with the county’s finance team, Lafferty said a plan was developed to devote some of the available funds to projects and purchases that the Board of Supervisors wanted.
Lafferty said the restricted funds would include $150,000 for jail floor repairs, $461,666 for HVAC work at the Lauderdale County Animal Control Building, $60,000 for juvenile justice center work, and $60,000 for work at the Juvenile Justice Center. He said he plans to allocate $10,000 for a septic tank. Community ball field on Van Ziverden Road.
With these funds allocated, the county will be left with $8,081.09 in restricted ARPA funds, Lafferty said.
“My recommendation is to leave it as is in case there are additional change orders in the future,” he said.
In general funds, the county could allocate $21,067 for the Highway Department, $50,000 for a coroner’s office vehicle and $138,000 for lighting at the community ball field on Van Ziverden Road, Lafferty said. That’s what it means. This leaves a total of $212,230.61 in unencumbered ARPA funds to be allocated by the Dec. 31 deadline.
Supervisor Kyle Rutledge, who serves as board chairman, said the board needs to move quickly to decide on a project, put together a bid package, advertise the work and award a contract by the end of the year. Ta.
Supervisor JJ Anders agreed with Rutledge, adding that the board needs to remain focused on meeting the Dec. 31 deadline.
“There’s no need to drop the ball on this,” he said.
court bond
Lafferty is considering spending the remaining ARPA dollars, but the Board of Supervisors will also have to decide on unspent funds from bonds issued to pay for construction of the new Lauderdale County Government Center. said. The county issued a total of $50 million in bonds in 2020 to cover the project.
Of the $50 million borrowed, approximately $3 million remains unpaid, with approximately $2 million remaining from the original amount and an additional $1 million in unpaid interest.
Lafferty said the remaining funds would address the HVAC system at the Lauderdale County Detention Center, repair Sophia Lane, which has been a hot topic among supervisors for months, and fund new paving equipment. He said he plans to secure $1,000. In the case of the Road Department.
He said the issue of air conditioning at the jail will need to be addressed at some point, and it’s up to the Board of Supervisors to decide whether to do it now or wait in hopes of a better opportunity.
“I 100% know I’m going to have to replace them at some point,” he says. “You can either be proactive and get everything done now, or you can scramble at the last minute and probably end up paying a lot more.”
Rafferty said after deducting the estimated costs of all three projects from the remaining bond funds, the county is left with $387,902 to spend on remaining punch list items still going through the courts.
