County distributes $98M in federal money to community services

Priorities include health, housing, infrastructure, more.

Cobb County will distribute $98 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money to nonprofits, businesses and public agencies to fund social services, workforce development, public safety and infrastructure projects.

The Board of Commissioners last week voted unanimously to approve most of the spending, with Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill voting against spending federal dollars on community health and housing services. Some of that money will fund mental health and substance abuse initiatives and other public health outreach programs.

The county will also spend $7.5 million on affordable housing initiatives, $8.2 million on rental and mortgage assistance, $3.4 million to combat homelessness and $4 million on food security, over Gambrill’s objections. While Gambrill said she supports some of the projects, she objected to the county providing more rental assistance.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid called the ARPA funds “pivotal” and “transformational” for the county and applauded a community engagement effort, which determined how the money would be divvied up.

“None of us does the good work of moving this county forward by ourselves,” she said.

Congress passed ARPA in 2021 to stimulate the economy, assist small businesses and fund local government services in the wake of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, commissioners earmarked funding for workforce development programs and construction projects, including a south Cobb public health center and $4.5 million for stormwater system upgrades.

The county also plans to expand the police department’s co-responder unit for behavioral health emergencies and add staff to address court backlogs caused by the pandemic.

The county hired a consultant in 2021 to aid in distributing the $147.6 million the county received.