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McPherson County reallocates ARPA funds, approves benefit-conversion to free capital dollars
Summary
Commissioners approved reallocations of encumbered ARPA contracts to the capital outlay fund and authorized a $2.799 million 'benefit conversion' intended to satisfy ARPA compliance and free funds for county capital projects, including communications towers and courthouse upgrades.
McPherson County commissioners on Oct. 28 voted to reallocate previously encumbered American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) contracts into the county’s Capital Outlay Fund and approved a separate benefit-conversion accounting step intended to free additional funds for capital projects.
Consultant Scott Lloyd told the board the county could comply with ARPA reporting and “flip” certain payroll reimbursements into allowable compliance entries, freeing other ARPA dollars for projects. “When it reports on April thirtieth of 2025, that money that we flip or convert to on the benefit conversion will go towards the compliance,” Lloyd said, framing the approach as a way to preserve compliance while making funds available for capital work.
At the meeting commissioners approved reallocating $1,421,603.15 of previously encumbered ARPA contracts to the Capital Outlay Fund for three tower-related projects: an AirCell 3 communications tower ($894,813.15), a custom tower at the Wyndham tower site ($515,370.00) and a Wyndham building upgrade ($11,420.00). Later the board approved a separate motion to allocate $2,799,395.52 as part of the benefit-conversion plan described by Lloyd.
Lloyd emphasized the need to follow federal uniform guidance and county internal controls, saying the approach ties reimbursements to specific departments and avoids double-dipping with other grant funds. He noted some departments (for example, emergency management) often receive other grant-funded salary reimbursements and would be excluded from this conversion to avoid overlap.
Commissioners were told that following the conversion and April 30, 2025 reporting, the freed ARPA award remaining would be available for capital projects and could be transferred under state statute from the general fund to the capital improvement fund as a budget credit. The motions passed on unanimous voice votes.
Next steps: county staff will implement the payroll reimbursement mapping required for the benefit conversion, finalize the internal control framework described by Lloyd, and proceed with the capital transfers and project budgeting reflected in the approved reallocations.
