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Finance committee recommends ordinance to allocate remaining ARPA funds
Summary
The Barnstable County finance committee voted unanimously in October 2024 to recommend Ordinance No. 26, a narrow appropriation to finalize remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds and shift $34,918.61 to an algal bloom lab project; staff said all ARPA funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024.
The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates standing committee on finance unanimously voted in October 2024 to recommend Ordinance No. 26, a housekeeping measure to appropriate remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funds and adjust three departmental ARPA budgets so the county can obligate the money by Dec. 31, 2024.
Assistant county administrator Vera Herrick told the committee the county received $41,400,000 in ARPA grant funds and must obligate those funds by Dec. 31, 2024. "We're fortunate to have received $41,400,000 from the federal government in ARPA grant funds," Herrick said, adding the ordinance is intended to finalize small remaining appropriations and reassign unspent amounts where they can be used.
Herrick said the ordinance would move a net $34,918.61 to an algal bloom laboratory project, drawing on unappropriated funds and underspending in two existing county projects. She emphasized that because the original appropriation amounts were set by ordinance, any change to those exact amounts requires a new ordinance.
Deputy Speaker Brandy Potash thanked staff for raising the issue and said the committee had recently encountered a case where a change was not brought to the committee for review. "We're gonna hope to be on a roll now and have everything before us that needs to be before us and try to stop the madness," Potash said, expressing a desire for more consistent prior notice of such changes.
The committee chair called for a motion to recommend Ordinance No. 26 to the full Assembly. After a motion and a second (the seconder was described by the chair as a "gentleman from Sandwich"), the committee took a roll-call vote. Vice Chair Killian, Chair Oman, Deputy Speaker Potash, Delegate Elliot Slade and Delegate Elliot Warner all voted "yes," and the clerk announced the motion passed unanimously.
The committee had no additional business and moved to adjourn. The ordinance will be forwarded to the full Assembly for consideration at a future meeting.
