Meeker County, its nine cities and 17 townships are in line to receive nearly $4 million in funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Now it’s a matter of figuring out the best way to spend what under normal circumstances would be a windfall for local governments, but these days is simply something intended to help recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re putting together a team … to put a plan in place for that money,” Meeker County Administrator Paul Virnig said recently. “If you look at (guidelines in act) and put yourself in a county commissioner or county administrator seat … it gives a lot of flexibility, but we want to make sure we target the right people and places with the money, that we’re fair, but also that we follow the guidelines.”
Also known as the CARES Act, the federal legislation provides the funding for coronavirus-related costs incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30. One of the few restrictions is that the funds cannot be used to replace tax collections.
Considering the amount of funding it provides, the CARES Act is surprisingly lenient in terms of what exactly the money must be spent on, Virnig said, especially compared to other federal funding that comes with multiple mandates attached.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of money,” Virnig said. “This is the most federal money we’ve ever received for anything. Maybe there’s been something for road money that was (close to) this big. But this is the biggest chunk of federal money.
“Putting a plan together is every county’s goal at this point,” Virnig added. “What’s the makeup of that plan, who are the players? We want to get people involved and get people thinking … that’s the goal at this point.”
He encouraged all of the county’s eligible cities and townships to apply for the funding, however, and then consider where the need was.
The funding is based on formulas set out in the CARES Act:
- Counties with population under 500,000: $121.28 x county population;
- Cities with population over 200: $75.34 x city population;
- Organized towns with population over 5,000: $75.34 x organized town population;
- Towns with population over 200 and under 4,999: $25.00 x town population.
That formula means Meeker County will receive $2.8 million, while most of its cities and townships will receive funding in the thousands, though two cities — Cedar Mills and Kingston — will receive no funding.
Litchfield, the county’s most populous municipality, is slated to receive $509,526 from the CARES Act. That had City Administrator David Cziok asking the City Council earlier this month to first authorize the funding application and also to devise a plan for distribution of the money.
“We’re slated to receive just over half a million dollars from the state … for us to distribute as we see fit,” Cziok told the council. He said he had contacted the city auditor to get their expertise about what factors should be considered in spending of the funds, since “this will likely spur us into a federal audit in March.”
Cziok suggested the city assemble a team and seek input from multiple sources, including Meeker County Economic Development Authority, about where and how the funding could do the most good.
“We want to get expertise added first,” Cziok said. “Secondarily, we want to educate staff (and) make sure we have all the answers we need in terms of what qualifies as a use and what doesn’t.”
At least some City Council members were focused on the private sector.
“I really think as elected representatives of the community … it’s vital we target small businesses,” Councilor Darlene Kotelnicki said. “It’s up to local unit of government to determine what a small business is. We need to distribute it to the largest number of people for the most benefit of our community. It should not be that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We have to be very public and open and fair.”
Cziok said he expected it to take a few weeks to assemble a group to provide input and develop priorities for the funding. He expected to bring the conversation back to the City Council during its first meeting in August.
Virnig expected the county to continue in a similar fashion, assembling a team of people who could help determine priorities and guidelines for how the funding could be best spent.
Planning will have to move relatively quickly, as the CARES Act stipulates that the funding is for costs incurred between March 1 and Dec. 20. Cities and townships must spend the funding by Nov. 15, or any remaining funds will go to the county.
“We would encourage the cities and townships to apply (and) if they don’t find a use for it, the money does revert to the county,” Virnig said. “We want to work together with (cities and townships) so there’s a clear understanding of parameters.”
