Council authorizes city manager to loan Choctaw donation and school tax funds to cover upfront grant costs

The Atoka City Council voted to authorize the city manager to temporarily loan money from the Choctaw donation account and/or the city’s school tax account to the municipal authority or general fund to cover upfront project construction costs tied to ARPA, USDA and CDBG grants.

City Manager Daley explained some grants require the city to pay costs up front and then request reimbursement; using these local accounts would allow work to proceed without depleting the municipal authority’s operating funds. He said staff had discussed the approach with the city attorney to confirm the legal ability to make such temporary loans and that each use would be approved by council at the time of a payment. “It would just be whatever the PO is each time,” Daley said when asked about amounts.

Council members asked for clarification that each loan would return to council for approval and were told such expenditures would be brought back for council action in the standard payment process. The motion to authorize the city manager to make temporary loans from those specific accounts passed on roll call.