MOHAVE COUNTY – Members of the Board of Supervisors have a better understanding of what they can and can’t do with the $41.5-million of COVID-19 relief funds that the federal government is providing Mohave County through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). County Manager Sam Elters told the board Monday that the U.S. Treasury Dept. has provided interim guidelines governing expenditures that will be finalized in August.
Elters spent ten minutes detailing expenditures allowed and prohibited under the interim guidelines. He said the funds can be used for:
*supporting public health response
*addressing negative economic impacts
*serving the hardest hit communities and families
*replacing lost public sector revenue
*providing premium pay for essential workers
*investing in water and sewer infastructure
*investing in broadband infrastructure
Elters said prohibited expenditures include:
*pension fund deposits
*debt service, legal settlements or judgments and rain day accounts
*infrastructure other than water, sewer and broadband
Supervisors expressed some disappointment that the guidelines prohibit use of the funds for bridge and road projects. Dist. 2 Sup. Hildy Angius suggested nonprofits would be better at distributing the money than county government.
“Can we dole it out to nonprofits or do we have to make people come to us and beg for it,” Angius asked rhetorically.
Dist. 5 Sup. Ron Gould said the private sector spends too much money administering government funds and he expressed skepticism that nonprofits can do any better than the county.
Elters noted that shifting fund distribution to nonprofits does not relieve the county of expenditure guideline compliance liability.
“They do expect us to report on these expenditures,” Elters said. “We will be audited and if we don’t comply, we will have the honor of paying it back.”
Angius said she wanted a thorough legal review before the county makes any spending decisions. She said she wants to make sure that the county does not incur any undesirable federal government obligation by accepting the funds.
Elters assured Angius that the final spending rules will be fully vetted locally, and externally through communication with other counties and the County Supervisors Association. Deputy County attorney Ryan Esplin expressed surprise that the rules have not been better defined by now but said he will be involved in the review process.
Dist. 4 Sup. Jean Bishop said she thinks the board should take a county-wide approach to its expenditure considerations. The board previously approved Dist. 1 Sup. Travis Lingenfelter’s proposal to divide the money evenly between the 5 districts.
Lingenfelter believes each supervisor knows their district best and is better positioned to make expenditure decisions. Elters and staff members, once spending guidelines are finalized, will work with each supervisor to plan how to spend roughly $8.3-million per district.
Dave Hawkins
