BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's Finance Committee met on June 8 to discuss allocating the $27 million American Rescue Plan fund.
Congress enacted the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which provided monetary relief for state and local governments, in March to combat the economic strain caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Benton County's Quorum Court set up the fund on May 27 to hold the money from the federal government until it could decide the best way to spend it.
Recovery money must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and must be spent by the same date in 2026. County Judge Barry Moehring suggested having initial exploratory meetings, which would be an extension of the Finance Committee, beginning the week of July 19. The meetings would cover both immediate expenditures and items that require further study.
Each meeting could be based around a single focus area, but the meetings would extend to covering larger ideas in August. Moehring suggested focusing funding toward county employees, county facilities, public health and economic recovery, infrastructure and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee.
In considering expenditures, said members should question if the expenditure meets the criteria of the American Rescue Plan and if it solves a problem or provides a benefit for Benton County, he said.
Moehring emphasized the importance of transparency, intentionality and collaboration with the public while determining how the money will be allocated. The process will also require patience as some projects don't need to be completed for several years. Some may need to be completed quicker than others, but the court doesn't need to "eat the whole elephant in one sitting," Moehring said.
"If we have the right process and we do it patiently, we will land on the right outcomes," Moehring said.
Moehring included ways to address recent negative economic impacts, such as speeding the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sectors, supporting small businesses and delivering assistance to workers and families.
In addition to small business support, Justice of the Peace Carrie Perrien Smith thinks county process improvements and equipment upgrades would be a wise use of money, she said. Smith also cautioned against using grant money to expand the trail system when there isn't consideration of the trail's maintenance once it is expanded.
Some ineligible uses of the money include making deposits to rainy day funds or financial reserve, funding debt service and spending on general infrastructure outside of water, sewer and broadband investments.
Committee members also discussed several appropriations during the June 8 meeting. They unanimously set aside $75,000 from the Cares Act to implement Questys document management system in the County Clerk's office. The system will make the current process paperless and eliminate document storage.
Another appropriation included a request for an additional case manager for the public defender's office due to process changes amid the pandemic. The request passed after Justice of the Peace Joel Jones motioned to have the money come from the Cares Act instead of the general fund.
The passed appropriations will be sent to the Quorum Court for consideration.