Culpeper supervisors authorize encumbring roughly $7.4M in ARPA funds to cover payroll

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized county staff to encumber nearly $7.4 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to cover payroll for October through December, county administrator John Eggerson told the board.

Eggerson said the county "received about $10,200,000 in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act" and that the board has spent and committed most of that money. He told supervisors staff wanted authorization to use the remaining funds "which is, almost $7,400,000 on payroll expenses for the last quarter of the current calendar year" so that any savings from those payroll expenditures could be rolled back into the county projects originally intended to be funded with ARPA dollars.

The administrator framed the move as a timing decision: federal guidance requires funds to be "encumbered" by the end of the year — meaning under contract or expended — and Eggerson said the board was seeking authorization to cover October, November and December payroll and allow staff to expend any remaining funds needed for December payroll. The board voted in favor; no recorded opposition was noted during the meeting.

Why it matters: encumbering ARPA funds for payroll lets Culpeper avoid returning unused federal dollars and preserve the county’s ability to reallocate payroll savings to broadband, revenue-sharing and other projects the board previously prioritized.

What’s next: staff will apply the authorized ARPA payroll expenditures for the quarter and return any remaining savings to the projects previously approved by the board. The board’s vote cleared the way for administrators to make final payroll-related encumbrances before the federal encumbrance deadline.