County board moves to take advantage of ARPA funding

McCOOK, Neb. — Extra funding is on the table because Congress made it available in response to the pandemic, and three votes taken by Red Willow County Commissioners Monday were designed to take advantage of the one-time opportunity.

The only non-unanimous vote was one awarding $2,000 to each of the county’s 47 full-time employees and $1,000 to about nine part-time employees using American Rescue Plan Act funding. Chairman Earl McNutt abstained with Randy Dean and Cayla Richards voting for the motion. County Attorney Paul Wood had advised against an earlier plan to award the COVID-related bonuses to elected officers as well, and as a county employee, McNutt said at an earlier meeting he would refuse the bonus.

Appointed county officers are eligible for the bonuses, which will be subject to regular payroll taxes.

Two other votes were spurred by the availability of ARPA funding, including a pledge of $15,000 toward McCook Economic Development Corp. workforce housing projects, and $12,000 toward the cost of applying for Historical Preservation Tax Credit for new courthouse windows.

Charlie McPherson and Amanda Engell of the MEDC obtained the $15,000 commitment from commissioners after outlining efforts to take advantage of Rural Workforce Housing funding.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development is temporarily offering a two-to-one match for such projects, meaning the county’s $15,000 pledge could result in $45,000 toward new or rehabilitated housing.

McPherson said the MEDC had previously raised $250,000 in local funding, a $250,000 match from the DED and another $163,000 from the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, with income restrictions.

Used as a revolving fund for private development, that pool of money is adequate for only about two projects at a time.

Now, however, the MEDC is reaching out to larger employers and others to take advantage of the 2-1 match with hopes of seeing larger projects such as an apartment complex built for more immediate impact.

The increased funding should enable the MEDC to offer more flexibility to enable more projects to be done and money returned to the revolving loan fund more quickly. With inflation, the program’s ability to offer interest at prime rate minus a certain percentage should be more attractive to contractors.

Dean, the only commissioner who will still be in office next year, explained the finances involved in the courthouse window project after touring the building with Architect Jerry Berggren.

Judging from the cost of a similar project, Dean said if the county is able to obtain the Historical Preservation grant, the project, including architect’s fees, would cost about $500,000. The deadline to apply for that grant is Dec. 31, he said.

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In other business, commissioners, acting as a board of equalization, approved two tax roll corrections. Commissioners approved accounts payable of $353,956.11, approved a contract with Miller & Associates for a bridge replacement project north of Bartley, appointed Austin Lambing to the County Health Board to replace Mary Beth Eisenmenger, and reviewed a letter from the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission regarding an appeal of a tax protest.