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Public speakers and commissioners press for accounting after $395,000 ARPA match for sports complex can't be traced
Summary
During public comment Ryan Richardson and recreation volunteers said Phase 2 of the NAB Sports Complex cannot start because roughly $395,000 that had been earmarked for the project is unaccounted for; commissioners demanded a full reconciliation from the clerk’s finance office and discussed using reserves if necessary.
Ryan Richardson told the Baker County Board of County Commissioners that volunteers and local donors completed Phase 1 of the NAB Sports Complex but that Phase 2 cannot proceed because approximately $395,000 previously earmarked as the county match cannot be located. “We were told we had $395,000 in that bucket… and then we get told that we don’t know where that $395,000 is at,” Richardson said during public comment.
County staff responding in the meeting said the administration’s spreadsheet shows roughly $644,000 overall remaining in ARPA but that the clerk’s office’s reconciliation shows about $300,000, leaving a discrepancy that must be resolved before staff can authorize new expenditures. “A true reconciliation of that account needs to happen,” a county administrator said, and offered to help identify where the problems may lie.
Several commissioners pressed the point that projects are stalled while the county’s finance records are being reconciled. One commissioner said the board has requested a complete operational audit of the clerk’s office from the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee. “Facts speak for themselves,” the commissioner said, arguing the apparent misallocation has delayed delivery of promised facilities.
Richardson and other speakers described the planned Phase 2 scope — demolishing an old two‑story building, replacing an antiquated concession stand, adding bathrooms and upgrades to the major and minor fields — and said fundraising and vendor discounts had been used to stretch county dollars. Richardson said donors and volunteers had already invested labor and equipment and that local banks had pledged additional match money contingent on the county’s ability to confirm funds.
County staff told the board they could not authorize work until finance reconciled the ARPA accounts and that they would report back with a clear accounting. Commissioners discussed possible short‑term options, including using reserves to finish the most urgent work if reconciliation confirms the funds are not available. No final appropriation or formal vote to transfer reserves was recorded during the meeting; board members instead directed staff to produce a definitive reconciliation and to pursue an audit of the clerk’s office operations.
The board did not adopt a final financial remedy during the meeting; next steps recorded were staff-led reconciliation efforts and a formal request to JLAC for an operational audit of the clerk’s office.
