MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners said Tuesday there is “no rush” in planning how to spend the $23.4 million the county will receive from the new American Rescue Plan, aimed at COVID-19 relief.
“I can tell you we (have received) phone calls from people inquiring about the money from township trustees, to the Renaissance Theatre, to the (Richland County) Foundation, to the parks,” Commissioner Tony Vero said.
Vero said commissioners have been telling callers that once commissioners have a better idea of the specific guidelines, they will be able to lay out a plan for the funds.
The funds come from $350 billion the federal government set aside for state and local governments as part of the $1.9 trillion spending package that President Biden signed March 11.
“The good thing is that in the worst case, we’re going to have four years to spend the money and in the best case, we may have into perpetuity as long as you follow the guidelines,” Vero said. “So we are not in a rush to spend the money.
“We need to prudently look at the guidelines, and maybe even form a (planning) group. All decisions will come through us, but we have got a ways to go.
“It’s $23.4 million and we’re going to appropriate it prudently,” Vero said.
According to the act, in general, local governments can use the funds:
— to respond to or mitigate the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 or its negative economic impacts.
— to cover costs incurred as a result of such emergency.
— replace revenue that was lost, delayed, or decreased, as determined based on revenue projections for the metropolitan city, non-entitlement unit of local government, or county as a result of COVID-19.
— address the negative economic impacts of the pandemic emergency.
The first step in the plan is for county Auditor Pat Dropsey to submit the county’s certification to the U.S. Treasury as the first step toward receiving the funds, which are largely based on population.
Other communities will also need to make decisions on how to spend ARP funds, which total more than $85 million among counties, cities and villages in Richland, Ashland, Knox and Crawford counties.
In Richland County, the City of Mansfield will get $22 million, the City of Shelby will receive about $1.8 million, the City of Ontario will get about $1.1 million and the Village of Lexington will receive about $900,000.
Other villages will receive smaller amounts. There are no specific funds in the ARP for townships, which were included in the CARES Act.
Also on Tuesday, Richland County Commissioners:
— approved a new one-year lease for $38,816 for the North Central Ohio Computer Cooperative at the Longview Center.
— approved CARES Act reimbursements for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department ($5,197) for radio batteries and the probate court ($1,480) for security switches. Funds for these requests come prior federal COVID relief acts.
— approved the vacation of an unused portion of Ritter Road near Interstate 71 in Washington Township.
