LAWTON – Comanche County is gearing up to begin work on projects funded by part of the county’s share of federal pandemic relief dollars.
The Board of Comanche County Commissioners voted 3-0 to set aside $1.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for each district, for a total of $3.9 million. Each district will use its portion of the money to cover the cost of road repairs in that district.
ARPA provides financial relief for cities, counties and other units of local government affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A provision in the law allows local units of government to use federal aid to cover the cost of providing services, up to the amount of revenue the unit lost due to the pandemic.
Floyd Law Firm, which is advising the county on ARPA-related spending, recommended earmarking amounts between $1 million and $1.3 million for each district, said Commission Chairman Alvin Cargill. Cargill said that suggestion was based on the list of projects that he and Commissioners Gail Turner and Johnny Owens had submitted.
“What that does is in the event that we get up to or exceed that, if there’s any monies left over once we allocate everything that’s in the queue for the lost revenue portion (of ARPA funds), if there’s any left over, then we can come back and tap into that and amend the plans,” Cargill said. “If we went with something in that range -- $1 (million) to $1.3 (million), is that something that’s acceptable?”
Turner, who represents District 1 on the commission, said a number in that range would be acceptable to him.
“I prefer $1.3 (million),” he said. “We’ve got a lot of road damage, and we need to get started.”
Cargill then asked Owens what he thought.
Owens said, “That’s fine.”
The county will need to set up special subaccounts within the ARPA account before the districts can start working on their projects.
County Clerk Carrie Tubbs said she will need to talk to the state auditor’s office about making sure the money is coded correctly from the start.
“By that, putting it in subaccounts that are designated for each of these and whether or not we have to branch out from there, whether it’s capital outlay,” she said. “They’re going to want to run that conversation with us, and I appreciate that they’re so involved.”
Tubbs said the county’s fiscal year is ending, so her staff is busy at the moment. But she said staff will complete ARPA-related tasks as soon as possible.
“You’ll see documents come through that allow you all to designate your requisitioning and receiving officers,” Tubbs said. “Those will have to be signed before anybody can write a PO (purchasing order). So we’re a little ways off, probably two weeks.”