Thurston County deliberates options for unobligated ARPA funds in case of clawback

County staff presented to the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Wednesday, July 2, their proposed plan should a bid to return the county’s proceeds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds succeed.

There are no ongoing attempts to claw back ARPA funds, but there have been previous attempts to do so.

Documents prepared by county staff mentioned the failed amendment to the Fire Grant and Safety Act, which included a proposal by US Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) to redirect unobligated ARPA funds. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also proposed to rescind unobligated ARPA funds during the proposals to raise the debt ceiling.

While there is room for interpretation of what unobligated means, county staff considers ARPA funds as unobligated if they are attached to ARPA projects that are still being considered. ARPA funds for approved projects may also be considered unobligated if no contract has materialized from the project.

Should a bill be enacted that takes back unobligated ARPA funds, county staff has a plan on how they could quickly allocate unobligated funds, which Senior Budget Analyst Diana Arens presented to the commission.

Unobligated funds could be consolidated into different groups, which could then be quickly allocated for varied purposes.

A portion of ARPA funds for affordable housing projects, which are still unobligated, amounts to $2,174,453, which Erens said could be placed into a certain contract with Olympia.

There is also an unobligated balance of $6,110,900 for public works water and sewer projects which could be allocated to road projects.

Unobligated funds categorized as “broadband” amount to $2,035,062, which could be allocated to a certain contract with the Nisqually Indian Tribe.

ARPA funds for staffing-related expenses worth $2,010,408 are also still unobligated, which Erens said that they could potentially document as ARPA-related.

The county is also looking to use $1,600,000 of emergency service ARPA funds for the purchase of Medic One vehicles.

Unobligated funds earmarked for the “lost revenue replacement” have a balance of $5,017,493, which Erens said the county could use for rent of the sheriff’s office and The Atrium, which houses the county’s general government offices, as well as to fund employee bonuses.

City staff would also look into a suggestion by Commissioner Gary Edwards to spend the funds to support improvements at the Thurston County Fairgrounds.

Though staff and Edwards debated whether they could use ARPA funds for the project, the staff did say that the project could be eligible under funds for lost revenue replacement.

With all these plans considered, an unobligated balance of $760,278 would remain, which city staff is still working on where to possibly allocate.

Proposes allocations of ARPA funds

County staff are set to submit their next annual recovery plan to the Department of Treasury by July 31.

During the meeting, county staff also briefed the commissioners on newly allocated uses for ARPA funds. County staff would be returning to the commission in two weeks to present a streamlined proposal to help the commissioners decide whether they agree with the use of the funds.

Proposed allocations include $575,000 for administrative expenses, $125,000 for a substance abuse monitoring contract with Friendship Diversion, and $70,000 for Thurston County Chamber of Commerce’s construction workforce development program.

Commissioner Carolina Meija also proposed allocating $600,000 to help Olympia fund the operations of the Quince Street Village, a temporary housing site.