County officials favor using covid-relief funds for pay raises

LINCOLN — A pair of justices of the peace on Tuesday advocated for using some of Washington County’s covid-relief funds to increase pay for county employees.

Willie Leming, justice of the peace for District 13 which includes Lincoln, and Robert Dennis, justice of the peace for District 10 which includes Farmington, both indicated they support the idea of using some of the $46 million the county is expected to receive in American Rescue Plan funds to raise the pay for county employees who are in the lower levels of the county’s pay structure.

“My biggest concern right now is our Road Department, our Sheriff’s Office, Circuit Clerk and Treasurer’s office,” Dennis said. “My biggest concern is that we take care of the poor at the county, and there’s a lot of them.”

Leming said an ordinance addressing pay for county employees should be introduced at an upcoming County Services Committee meeting.

The meeting was one in a series of “community cookout conversation” events organized by the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition. Members of the group have been asking county officials to have an open public discussion of how the county may use the money it is receiving through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Sarah Moore of Fayetteville, one of the organizers of the meetings, gave a brief slideshow presentation on the American Rescue Plan money available to the county. Moore said the Washington County Quorum Court is considering a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Washington County Detention Center as one possible use for the funds. She said the aim of the meetings is to generate other ideas and to persuade county officials to pause spending decisions on the money until a robust public discussion of other possible uses for the money can be had.

Leming said he doesn’t favor a “pause” on deciding how to use the county’s share of the covid- relief money. Leming said delaying project, like a possible jail expansion, will only increase the cost.

“I don’t want to pause if we know we can use it on county infrastructure,” Leming said. “I don’t want to pause because it will cost us more money.”

About 25 to 30 people attended Tuesday’s gathering. Several said they favor using at least some of the relief money to help individuals who have been impacted by the pandemic, pointing to housing assistance programs and help with utility bills, medical expenses, child care and food assistance.

Lou Reed Sharp suggested local governments could boost the effect of assistance programs by hiring social workers or similar professionals who could help people find assistance programs and make use of them.

“There are so many resources out there, and people don’t now how to access it,” She said.

Mac Mayfield suggested using the funds in ways that would multiply their effect in the community. He said that with the coming of colder weather there are people in rural areas who need help making improvements to their homes so they can be more energy efficient.

That would help those people reduce their utility costs and provide jobs for local people who do that kind of work, he said.