FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County officials on Thursday approved spending more than $1.1 million in federal covid-relief money on remodeling and new equipment for the Sheriff's office emergency dispatch center.
The justices of the peace approved spending about $482,000 to remodel the communications center for the Washington County Sheriff 's Office. The state has ordered counties to consolidate existing emergency dispatch centers, and Washington County was told to combine the Sheriff's Office with Central Emergency Medical Services. Fayetteville and Springdale will both keep their existing dispatch operations.
An ordinance appropriating the money from the county's general fund reserve was sent to the Quorum Court by the Finance & Budget Committee last week. At Thursday's Quorum Court meeting the ordinance was amended to take the money from the county's American Rescue Plan Act funds instead of the county's general fund. The change in funding source was questioned by several members of the public attending the meeting.
Josh Moody of Fayetteville, the Democratic Party candidate for county judge, said the amendment was "flying by the seat of our pants" since the original ordinance was approved just last week.
Moody said he is worried the county will spend the ARPA money before making any of it available to nonprofit groups working in the community. County Judge Joseph Wood has proposed setting aside up to $2.3 million in ARPA money for nonprofit groups and a county application process shows any grants from that amount won't be awarded until 2023.
"My concern is that we're going to try to burn up the ARPA money in the next few months before we get to the $2.3 million," Moody said.
Sarah Moore of Fayetteville said she is concerned that the county has no plan for spending the ARPA money but is "piecemealing" the money to different uses as they arise.
"If we continue to nickle-and-dime it there won't be any money left for nongovernmental organizations," Moore said.
The amendment changing the funding source was approved by the justices of the peace by a vote of 11-3, with Justices of the Peace Shawndra Washington, Suki Highers and Evelyn Rios Stafford voting against the change.
The Quorum Court also approved an ordinance appropriating $640,000 from the county's ARPA funds for the lease of 32 new consoles for the dispatch center. That ordinance was also amended to change the funding source from the county's general fund to the ARPA fund. According to the ordinance, the new consoles will replace equipment that was leased seven years ago and has been out of warranty for the last two years.
Also Thursday, the justices of the peace approved an ordinance appropriating $500,000 for the Road Department's 2022 budget. The additional money will be transferred from the unappropriated reserves in the Road Department's 2022 budget.
The Quorum Court also approved money to provide $5,000 stipends for the county's law enforcement officers.
The justices of the peace approved an ordinance appropriating about $885,000 for the stipends. Act 224 of 2022, approved earlier this year by the state Legislature, provides money for law enforcement officers in Arkansas, with Washington County being allotted about $775,000 from the state. The county is required to cover the cost of paying into the state retirement system, adding another $110,000 in county money to the total cost.
More News
NoneAmerican Rescue Plan Act
Washington County has received more than $46 million in ARPA money in the last two years. The American Rescue Plan provides $350 billion in federal money for eligible state, local, territorial and tribal governments nationwide to offset the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to information from the Treasury Department.
Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette