COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew County officials have begun discussions on how to spend $16,248,421 the county has received through the American Rescue Plan.
The money came to the county after President Joe Biden signed legislation authorizing the relief funds for local and state governments on March 11.
“This is unprecedented,” Bartholomew County Commissioner’s chairman Larry Kleinhenz said. “This is a lot of money. Our entire county budget approaches $50 million, and all of the sudden, we have an extra $16-plus million.”
Half of the federal allocation will be received on or before May 11, with the remainder is expected a year from now.
Elected officials are limited to the following general areas in spending the funding, according to an agreement prepared by the federal government and the state of Indiana:
- To respond to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 or its negative economic impacts. This could include assistance to households, small business, nonprofits, or to aid impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality.
- To respond to workers performing essential work during the public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers of Columbus, Bartholomew County government, and non-entitlement units of local government. The funds could also provide grants to certain employers who have eligible workers who perform essential work.
- For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue to Columbus, Bartholomew County government, and non-entitlement units of local government, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. This provision would be relative to revenues collected in the most recent full fiscal year of the local governments.
- To make necessary investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure as approved by the U.S. Treasury.
The ideas presented Monday by the commissioners were the result of more than 10 hours of meetings with county auditor Pia O’Connor, Kleinhenz said.
In terms of public health, the commissioners are considering creating a health department nursing expansion, drive-thru clinic, a mobile unit and contract staffing to improve response capacity, London said.
In addition, they are contemplating additional improvements to the heating and air conditioning systems at the Bartholomew County Jail and the county courthouse, Commissioner Tony London said.
Kleinhenz said the commissioners not only want to provide premium pay to those on the front lines of the pandemic, but to also “build up specifics to that.”
Departments that suffered a loss of revenue due to the pandemic include the county highway department (due to lost gas tax revenue early last year) and Community Corrections (due to a significant drop in user fees). These federal dollars can be used to cover those funding holes, London said.
The commissioners also suggested increasing money for poor relief provided by township trustees, awarding funds to rural fire departments who were unable to raise money during the pandemic and giving financial help to nonprofits (because donations dropped significantly due to the virus), London said.
Finally, the commissioners stated they would like a sizable amount of the money to go toward the expansion of rural broadband internet.
“But all of this is preliminary, and none of this is set in stone,” London said.
For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
