Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Arpa Allocation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners allocate ARPA revenue-replacement funds for elections, IT, coroner and weed/mosquito equipment
Summary
A resolution approved Dec. 3 directs ARPA revenue-replacement funds to elections equipment, county operations, a courtroom IT upgrade and public-works equipment for weed and mosquito control; staff said only a small unallocated balance remains.
Ada County commissioners on Dec. 3 approved Resolution 3048 (ARPA #45) to obligate allowable American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue-replacement funds to multiple county departments, including the elections office, operations, information technology and weed/mosquito control.
The staff presentation listed individual awards that staff said would fully obligate restricted funds and largely exhaust revenue-replacement funding. During the public hearing and discussion, county staff provided a department-level breakdown; staff emphasized these awards substitute federal funds for expenditures that otherwise would have been funded by property taxes.
What was approved (department-level items summarized by staff on the record):
- Elections: equipment funding (amount not fully specified in the hearing record on the agenda summary).
- Operations: equipment funding of about $229,591 (staff provided this item-level amount).
- Information Technology: a courtroom audio/video upgrade and audit, listed on the record as approximately $280,000.
- Weed and mosquito (vector management): new equipment and ATVs listed at $103,110.
- Coroner: an award of $36,059 for additional protective equipment.
Staff said the revenue-replacement items left $2,914 unallocated that will be assigned to an appropriate use. "We're in the home stretch as far as obligations," a county staff member said during the hearing.
Clerk and elections context: The clerk's office reported that ballot-verifier images for the November election were being uploaded and would be publicly available within a day or two, and staff said they would add explanatory material to the county website clarifying what the public verifier shows and what remains secret (ballots remain secret unless a voter identifies themselves on the ballot). The clerk explained that the verifier shows ballot images but does not connect images to individual voters except by precinct or ballot type.
Board action: Commissioners approved Resolution 3048 by voice vote. Staff noted Feb. ARPA reporting to Treasury will be labor intensive and thanked staff who prepared the award schedule.
Details not specified: The meeting record contained a partially transcribed total referenced during remarks; where the precise total award figure was not cleanly recorded in the transcript, the county-provided line-item amounts above reflect the figures that staff spoke aloud and that were clear on the record. The clerk and finance staff said the awards fully obligate restricted ARPA funds at this time.
