Oxford Twp. received $142,353 but returned $11,672 by the Nov. 20 deadline. The redistribution deadline was Nov. 25.
“We returned some funds because we didn’t want to spend money just for the sake of spending it,” Oxford Twp. Trustee Norma Pennock said. “We wanted to truly spend for justified and useful items.”
The township gave the Talawanda School District $116,000 and spent the rest on equipment and purchases to stem the spread of the virus. She said they didn’t have enough time to meet and issue another sub-grant to the schools.
“We wanted to make sure we held on to a little bit as late as possible, so we could cover any last minute township items that we identified,” Pennock said. “We knew that any money returned to the county would be put to good use locally, even if not in our own township.”
Reynolds said 25% of the redistributed money, or $23,322, stayed in county coffers, and the rest was disbursed according to population. Every county jurisdiction has lamented the tight deadlines and shifting rules tied to the federal relief funds.
“The legislators have really kept us on our toes with the quick turn arounds and deadlines related to the CARES Act,” Reynolds said. “Working with the entities and with 13 townships and 12 cities and villages it’s difficult communicating with all 25 entities to determine how and when they are going to use their CARES funding.”
The federal government passed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in late March, sending money to states to be distributed locally. The state legislature began allocating the money to jurisdictions in June, according the Local Government Fund distribution formula.
Jurisdictions recently learned the U.S. Treasury has relaxed rules on using CARES money to reimburse for “substantially dedicated” safety salaries. Itemized hourly accounting of hours worked on dealing with the pandemic is no longer required, so most jurisdictions are using a large chunk of CARES money to offset some salary expenses.
The county received $18.7 million in the latest distribution, which the commissioners split up on Nov. 9. The money must be spent by year’s end. A number of the programs and efforts might not be able to be accomplished by Dec. 30, like the $6 million testing and vaccine distribution initiative, so County Administrator Judi Boyko said officials can shift between funds
“By taking the costs that we’ve already incurred for substantially dedicated salaries, we’ll charge those salaries to the CARES money, which then frees up general fund money,” Boyko said. “We will take that same amount and reallocate that general fund money to finish up these CARES projects.”
West Chester Twp. received almost $4 million in CARES Act funding, and Finance Director Ken Keim recommended the trustees put the bulk of it into salaries for police, fire and dispatch staff which they did. The township will receive an additional $11,468. He said previously when funds are redistributed, they will also go to offset salaries.
Many jurisdictions also used some their money to help small businesses and other entities within their communities. The city of Trenton spent $330,000 of its $830,818 allocation awarding small business grants of up to $10,000, with another $25,000 going to the Edgewood Ministerial Association and $10,000 going to the Edgewood Schools.
Finance Director Mike Engle said the city chose not to fund public safety salaries.
“We had a plan and we chose not to switch gears,” Engle said. “We just felt like we had a plan in place and gradually through the time period leading up to current times, allocating funds to different things like capital, PPEs all those thing and decided yeah, we were going to put money back into the community.”
Morgan Twp. Administrator/Fire Chief Jeff Galloway said the township spent its allotment of $376,746 but doesn’t need and probably can’t spend anymore. Reynolds will be sending the township $1,076. It bought personal protective equipment and funded fire department salaries. Like many other fire departments, it wanted to buy a second set of turnout gear but wouldn’t receive the purchase until after the December deadline.
“If they give us money back the requirements are just so brutal,” Galloway said adding they have allocated as much to salaries as is allowable. “The guidance was just so difficult, the turn around time was very short, there was a lot of conflicting information from different entities on what could be used and what couldn’t be used for the money and timeframe.”
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