A heated debate over how to spend millions in pandemic relief money erupted between two of the newest members of Bartholomew County’s elected government Tuesday during a county council meeting.
County Councilman Greg Duke and County Commissioner Tony London differed on the approach of how to spend $16.25 million in America Rescue Plan federal dollars, earmarked for pandemic relief.
The council eventually unanimously approved the county’s preliminary spending plan, which will allow the county to start spending some of the COVID-19 recovery and stimulus funds. Several officials emphasized the plan can be changed or amended over the next few years.
Already approved Monday by the commissioners, the spending plan contains input from council members Matt Miller, Scott Bonnell, Jorge Morales and county Auditor Pia O’Connor. However, there are so many restrictions regarding how the money can be legally spent that a financial consultant was hired to ensure each expenditure meets federal guidelines.
More details on the federal plan, including reporting requirements, are still being released, O’Connor said. She said she will send quarterly reports to both commissioners and council members on how the money is being spent.
Early in the discussion, Duke described the American Rescue Plan funds for COVID-19 recovery and stimulating the economy as "an extraordinary expense involving things we don’t have a lot of experience with." While Duke — a retired law enforcement administrator — said many proposals have merit, but the plan presented to the council lacked detail and wasn’t easily understood.
In response, Duke’s one-time boss — former two-term sheriff and now council member Mark Gorbett — described the plan as a "basic footprint" from the commissioners that can be significantly changed or altered over the next two years.
But in order to start spending any of the money, the council had to approve the basic plan presented to them Tuesday, Gorbett said.
Duke was joined by Gorbett and council member Matt Miller in expressing concern about $1 million in the plan earmarked for nonprofit organizations that lost revenue.
"We’re getting on to thin ice in subsidizing nonprofits," Duke said. "No unit of county government should decide ‘winners and losers’ for nonprofits. That’s not our job to support those things, based on our personal opinions."
Gorbett said deciding funding for nonprofits is "a political hot potato in this community."
But the only nonprofit mentioned as a potential candidate for receiving funds was the Bartholomew County Fair. That’s because the fair is located on county-owned property and lost about $125,000 due to the fair’s cancellation last year, as well as a lack of facility rentals during the pandemic.
Several calls were received from nonprofits after the $1 million allocation was published in The Republic Tuesday, county administrator Tina Douglas said. But there has been no determination which nonprofits could receive part of the funds, she said.
"Initially, I freaked out at the thought of deciding not-for-profits," commissioners chairman Larry Kleinhenz said. "It’s a daunting task to decide who gets money, and how much. Do you know how many nonprofits are across our county?"
While the commissioners have the authority to decide which nonprofits get the money, Duke said the federal government has not ordered them to make those decisions.
"The task has been given to us, whether we like it or not," Kleinhenz replied.
Discussions began to get heated when Duke responded to a statement that the council appropriates the money and the commissioners write the local plan.
"Why wasn’t that done last year?" Duke asked. "My first vote on the council was to approve money spent by the commissioners last year."
London replied the 2021 American Rescue Plan is completely different from the 2020 CARES Act, which also provided federal funds for COVID-19 relief. But Duke said he recalls millions were spent last year by the commissioners without reference to the council.
When London again stated the councilman was comparing two different programs, Duke said the plan tries to "spend $16 million like it was $16."
That sparked the debate where Duke and London began speaking loudly, frequently talked over one another.
"Do you think we are taking this lightly?" London asked Duke. "We’ve spent hours upon hours of …
"How much is $16 million worth in study, research and planning…" Duke asked.
"Councilman, we’re going to be studying this for the next five years," London replied. "We have to pass a plan to do anything. None of this is thrown up in the air in hopes that somebody catches it."
But Duke still maintained that general guidance is missing from the spending plan. The councilman also said his issue is not a matter of trust regarding the commissioners, but rather a matter of momentum.
"When you give somebody $16 million and tell them they have two years to spend it, how much money do you think they will have a year out?" Duke asked. "I’m appalled that such a large amount of money could…"
"(The commissioners) didn’t ask for this," London exclaimed before Duke could finish his sentence.
Miller then interrupted the two, saying, "At the end of the day, the council has a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote — we cannot veto or approve each item. We’ve asked our attorney, and we can’t do that. So we can either continue to argue this – or we can entrust the commissioners to do their job, continue to give our input and hope they do what we feel is right. That’s our only option."
Both council members and commissioners will receive quarterly reports of expenditures as they are made, O’Connor said. In addition, Kleinhenz said the commissioners want continued input from the council on how the money should be spent.
Council member Bill Lentz asked only that the commissioners refrain from making any expenditure that will end up taking money from the county’s General Fund to sustain it.
Kleinhenz reassured Lentz that two-thirds of the plan consist of very large expenses that county taxpayers would have to pay in the next two to five years.
A different perspective was made by Gorbett, who reminded elected officials in the room that there may be some different council members and a new commissioner making many of the spending decisions.
Gorbett’s point is that the federal government requires contracts for expenditures of American Rescue Plan money must be in place by the end of 2024, and that all allotted funds be spent by the end of 2026, O’Connor said.
However, the current terms of Gorbett, Morales and Bonnell will conclude at the end of next year, as well as that of county commissioner Carl Lienhoop.
Duke, who was chosen by a GOP caucus to fill the remaining term of Laura DeDomenic, will also have to run for office next year if he wants to continue on the council.
