County on track to exhaust federal aid
Latest stimulus approval extends deadline to December ’ 21
As the end of the year approached, Anne Arundel County officials were tallying up expenses and balancing accounts to ensure every dollar of the $ 101 million in federal assistance would be spent.
The money, aimed at shoring up jobs and the local economy, now has extra time for residents who need it thanks to a second stimulus package signed into law Sunday.
The county government initially expected to use any remaining CARES Act money to reimburse health and public safety salaries before the end of the year, as permitted under the act, as the U. S.
Treasury Department required any cash unspent after Dec. 30 return to federal coffers.
The second stimulus package, passed
Monday, Dec. 21, extends that deadline through 2021.
County budget officer Chris Trumbauer said staff drafted memos to help guide departments through the new bill, assuming President Donald Trump would sign it before some benefits ran out. But Trump initially threatened to veto that bill, criticizing it and delaying final passage for a week before signing the unchanged legislation Sunday.
The county now has some breathing room to extend humanitarian and relief programs through the end of the year. County officials said they expect to spend all the money no matter the final deadline.
Without the time crunch, the county funds will go toward eviction prevention, the Food Bank, and other aid programs created earlier this year to help county residents pay bills, get food and stay housed through the pandemic.
The federal government granted the county the money as part of the CARES Act; the massive stimulus Congress passed in March to help citizens, local governments and institutions weather the coronavirus pandemic.
Though the pandemic is not over, the assistance is for governments like Anne Arundel County. The new spending bill, while providing another year to use the money, it did not provide any added funding for state or local governments.
The county spent about $ 68 million through November, with another $ 9.5 million earmarked for future purchases. Since reporting the November figures, the county announced further programs using
The county announced an additional $ 1.4 million for county schools to reimburse pandemic related costs.
the money, including a second round of grants to restaurants that received previous $ 10,000disbursements and $ 1million toFeed Anne Arundel, an organization paying restaurants tomakemeals for people in need. The county also announced Tuesday an additional $ 1.4 million for county schools to reimburse pandemic related costs such as protective gearanddigital learning materials.
The majority of the money spent thus far has gone to organizations outside the county government through grants. In October and November, the county dedicated:
■ $ 5,437,100 to the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation to fund the county’s restaurant and food service grant program
■ $ 3,303,000 to the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation to fund a child care provider relief program to help area day cares recover fromlosing business during the pandemic
■ $ 1,035,000 to the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County to support local artists and art institutions impacted by the pandemic
■ $ 1,050,000 to the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County to provide grants to county non- profit groups
■ $ 550,000 to the Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency to help families struggling to pay heating and electric bills
■ $ 126,000 to the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation to fund a food relief program that pays hunters and butchers to process deer meat and donate it to the county food bank
■ $ 50,000 to the ARC of the Central Chesapeake to operate an in- home relief program for families of children with disabilities
Every grant recipient signs a contract with the county, binding them to spend the money within U. S. Treasury Department guidelines and before Dec. 30. The new legislation doesn’t change the terms of the contracts for most grant recipients, Trumbauer said.
The county, not the grantee, is ultimately accountable to the federal government for seeing themoney spent. In early December, therewere some grant recipients behind on spending all the money given to them, Trumbauer said, but the county government is working with the organizations to help themmeet their deadline.
After grants, the county spent the second most, about $ 28 million, on health department initiatives, with much of that money flowing to contact tracing and testing for COVID- 19.
In October and November, the health departmentspent about$ 237,100onrent for buildings storing personal protective equipment and housing residents experiencing homelessness and quarantining whilewaiting for COVID- 19 test results. The county bought $ 532,700 worth of PPE in October and November and placed an order for another $ 1.2 million.
In those months, the Anne Arundel County Police and Fire departments and the Department of Aging dedicated money toward administrative and sick leave for employees who either caught COVID- 19 and needed to quarantine because of exposure or could not initially do their jobs from home.
Spending through the fall also focusedon aid to residents newly in need of food, shelter and care. The county aging department committed $ 379,000 to programs to feed elderly residents and those with disabilities. The Department of Social Services was originally not one of the eight departments receiving CARES Act allocations, but as the pandemic progressed and continued to decimate jobs throughout the county, county officials began earmarking money for aid programs through the office.
That included $ 396,800 for temporary housing for county residents seeking shelter while suffering the effects of COVID- 19 or waiting for test results after being exposed to someone else with the disease.
The Recreation and Parks Department too joined efforts to allay unexpected problems the pandemic created for the county’s health care workers and first responders, spending about $ 163,400 to bolster child care programs to accommodate children of parents on the frontlines of fightingCOVID- 19.
Any unspent money will go back to the Treasury. County finance reporting manager Michael Beard said the county would spend all of the money, especially given the extension.