NEWTON COUNTY – An vital resolution relating to the rest of Newton County’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds was decided at Tuesday’s Newton County Board of Commissioners assembly.
Commissioners authorized the duty of roughly $1.2 million in remaining ARPA funds to tasks pertaining to Newton County public works. The vote was handed in a break up resolution of 3-1, with one abstention.
Based on finance director Brittany White, the county needed to obligate these funds by Dec. 31, 2024 in order that the county didn’t lose them. White stated the precise quantity of $1,240,897 was left over because of tasks that had surplus cash or weren’t pursued completely.
White stated the funds needed to be allotted to tasks that had been federally procured. These tasks – which had been beforehand funded by SPLOST {dollars} – which have been federally procured already are the Yellow River Bridge venture and the Crowell Street I-20 entry venture.
However whereas the tasks had already undergone the federal procurement course of, some commissioners wished the cash for use for a special venture.
District 4 consultant J.C. Henderson stated he wished to see the cash go towards the senior dwelling restore program which concluded earlier this yr.
Earlier within the assembly, county supervisor Harold Cooper gave a abstract of the house restore program, saying that 274 out of 854 purposes had been authorized within the quantity of $4.9 million. However Henderson stated that he felt the county may use this cash to assist much more individuals who could not have had the possibility to obtain funding.
“Why can’t we transfer a few of that cash to finish for our senior residents, some extra repairs that, for my part, that’s desperately wanted for them,” Henderson stated.
Henderson stated that the board had advised the residents that there was no extra money out there from ARPA funds, one thing that District 3 commissioner Alana Sanders agreed with.
“We did inform the residents we didn’t have any extra money, that the funding was depleted,” Sanders stated. “So to listen to that there’s funding left…to see that we did not do what we stated we had been going to do based mostly on these ARPA funds may be very disappointing.”
District 2 commissioner Demond Mason reminded the board that the unique quantity for the senior dwelling restore program was decrease than the near $5 million allotted to the venture. Mason additionally stated that the notion that the board had advised residents that they had been out of ARPA cash was lacking some key context.
“After we say that we had been ‘out of monies’ that means that we had exceeded that the quantity that this board had truly authorized to switch to that individual bucket (the $5 million allotted for the senior dwelling restore program),” Mason stated. “Not as if there have been no extra ARPA funds left.”
In a response to a query requested by District 1 commissioner Stan Edwards, White confirmed that a number of the public works funding had been reduce throughout the 2024-25 funds season, resulting in the reasoning behind the procurement proposal.
“The 2023 SPLOST did reallocate the funding for transportation otherwise than it did up to now,” White stated.
Following dialogue, Edwards moved to make the movement to ship the cash to public works which was seconded by District 5 commissioner Ronnie Cowan. Mason voted in settlement, whereas Sanders voted in opposition. Henderson opted to abstain.
Based on federal pointers, the cash allotted to public works must be spent two years following the procurement contract, that means the cash should be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
