Spokane County waiting for more than $50M in federal funds | Washington
(The Center Square) – Spokane County expects to receive the second half of its $101 million allocation of American Rescue Plan fund any day now.
Jeff McMorris, community engagement and policy advisor, told the county commissioners Monday that the expected payment date of May 19 came and went, but the money should arrive any day.
The funds are the county’s share of the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan approved by Congress in 2021. To date, the county has received $43 million of its ARP allocation.
Morris and Ariane Schmidt, regional project manager, briefed Commissioners Mary Kuney, Josh Kerns and Al French about infrastructure put in place to track ARP funds.
Toward that end, the county is paying Clifton Larsen Allen of Spokane, commonly known as CLA Professional Services, $505,000 until the end of 2026, when all projects must be completed. The firm was also given $5,000 to cover startup costs.
CLA has provided a software package that allows the county to track reimbursement invoices coming and going. In addition, the firm will prepare reports for US Department of Treasury audits.
“Their software is written to make reporting a lot easier and greatly reduce staff time. It will help us on a lot of fronts,” said McMorris at a meeting earlier in May.
Taxpayers will be able to see how ARP dollars are spent through a portal on the county’s website, spokeanecounty.org, said McMorris.
The ARP icon on the home page takes viewers into the portal where they can see results in the six broad categories: public health, negative economic impacts, services to disproportionately impacted communities, premium pay, infrastructure and revenue replacement.
Active requests for proposals are listed, as well as information about how entities can apply for funds. Data is also made available about who has gotten awards and the amount.
There is information about criteria for awards set by Treasury, which is overseeing the ARP program, and local requirements to determine eligibility.
In January, Treasury identified 80 subgroups eligible for funding in seven levels under the broad categories.
Kuney pointed out that revenue replacement was not a category for open projects. She suggested a flag be put on the website link for that category noting that it applied only to the local government, which could recoup revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
McMorris calculates the county will claim $9.63 million this year for revenue lost in 2020. That figure will drop to about $3 million next year because the county sold a raceway in 2021 that generated revenue.
The reimbursement level is expected to return to about $9 million for 2022 and 2023, which is the last year for these claims.
Replacement dollars, said McMorris, are ARP funds that can be used at the discretion of elected bodies, although they cannot be spent on jail operations.
The county can also use some of the federal money to cover administrative costs tied to distribution and tracking of millions. McMorris said the commission has chosen the option to recoup 10% of what is outlaid with each award, with the exception of revenue reimbursement or work done by government agencies.
Work that can only be done best by a government entity is also not open to outside proposals, he said.
The county has been urged by federal officials to hold back a little of the money in case of an urgent need. Governments have to determine how to spend their ARP allocations by the end of 2024 and the dollars have to be spent by the end of 2026, said McMorris.
Now that Spokane County has its ARP framework in place, McMorris told the commissioners May 23 that new requests for proposals will be issued in multiple categories during the coming weeks. The commissioners decided to avoid confusion and potential conflicts by not advertising for projects in similar categories at the same time.