Bartholomew County is examining how federal funding provided for COVID-19 expenses may be applied to challenges being faced due to the pandemic.
The county has already been reimbursed about $138,000 in COVID-19 expenses through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
However, that’s just 5% of the $2.68 million in federal funds the county became eligible to receive last May, Bartholomew County Auditor Pia O’Connor said.
Upcoming projects being paid through these funds include Zoom video conferencing software for courtrooms, laptop deployment, air quality improvements, court room remodeling for social distancing, improved courthouse scanning, contact tracing and acquiring more personal protection equipment, O’Connor said.
When the money was first awarded, local officials were told the reimbursable funds had very specific rules for expenditures, O’Connor said. For example, they did not initially allow for reimbursement of public safety or public health payroll costs, she said.
However, a Sept. 25 revision from the Indiana Finance Authority, based on federal guidance, states that counties can go ahead and submit public safety and public health payroll related expenses from March 1 to Sept. 30, the auditor said. The county only needed the approval of the Bartholomew County commissioners, which was provided by a Nov. 2 resolution.
Another update issued Oct. 28 by the Indiana State Board of Accounts requires the county council to make appropriations on expenses being funded through the CARES Act, O’Connor said. However, county council members learned Tuesday that unspent CARES money can be carried over into the next year, she added.
One councilman made inquiries after hearing that pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. and its German partner, BioNTech, have developed a COVID-19 vaccine that is reportedly over 90% effective.
Councilman Jorge Morales asked the auditor if CARES Act funds could be used to pay for vaccinations for those who can’t afford it themselves.
In response, O’Connor said that when the county receives CARES Act reimbursements, the money can be used for anything that falls within the confines of county government services.
“If we want to use it to buy new water rescue equipment for the Sheriff’s Department, we can do that,” O’Connor said. “If we want to buy a transport van for the auditor’s office, we can do that. It doesn’t necessarily have to be COVID related.”
But until the current public health crisis is eliminated, O’Connor strongly advised that CARES Act money should be used first and foremost in response to COVID-19.
