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Finance committee applies remaining ARPA balance to $800,000 health-insurance debt
Summary
The Ashland County Finance Committee voted to apply the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) balance to cover roughly $800,000 in unrecoverable health insurance costs, citing a permissive federal lost‑revenue approach for smaller counties.
The Ashland County Finance Committee voted to apply the county’s remaining ARPA balance to an estimated $800,000 in unrecoverable health‑insurance debt, the committee decided during its finance meeting.
County finance staff told the committee that, because the county’s ARPA award is under $10 million, the county may claim lost revenue under the federal guidance and treat the funds as available for closing that health‑insurance shortfall. “Because you were under 10,000,000 of ARPA, you can claim lost revenue as a blanket and just use it for any expenses,” one finance staff member said during the meeting.
The motion to apply the ARPA balance to the health‑insurance obligation passed on a voice vote; the committee recorded the motion as carried and will report the recommendation to the full county board. Committee members said they preferred to use ARPA now rather than risk future federal policy changes that could reduce available funds.
Committee members asked staff to show the ARPA expenditure on the county’s next federal reporting so that the county’s April filing will reflect the funds as spent as of the end of 2024. Finance staff said they will include the ARPA allocation in that report.
The committee’s action does not create a new county policy; it is an authorization to apply the county’s remaining ARPA funds to the specific health‑insurance debt and will be reflected in the county’s April ARPA report.
Funding decisions that flow from this action — including any budget or accounting entries needed to implement the ARPA allocation — will be processed by county finance staff and reported to the board in regular financial updates.
