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Alamance County chooses ARPA 'supplanting' option to free funds for emergency services and capital needs
Summary
Facing a Dec. 31 obligation deadline for unobligated ARPA funds, commissioners selected Option 3 to supplant prior eligible emergency‑services expenditures so the county can free general funds for other needs; the board debated security and licensure for a proposed diversion center but postponed any purchase decision.
Alamance County commissioners on Monday selected a strategy to obligate roughly $9.4 million in unobligated American Rescue Plan Act funds before the federal obligation deadline.
County staff presented three options: (1) purchase of a behavioral‑health diversion center (a $14 million total project with timing and licensure constraints), (2) purchase and upgrades for public‑safety radio and infrastructure, and (3) supplanting eligible emergency‑services expenditures already made (including ambulances, quick‑response vehicles and EMS salary/fringe costs). Staff said Option 3 was the fastest way to obligate ARPA funds and would immediately free county general funds previously used for those purchases.
Commissioners expressed concern about operational readiness at the diversion center (security contracts, pharmacy arrangements and licensure for a 16‑bed unit) and the timing required to obligate funds for that purchase before the federal deadline. Finance staff and the county manager said the county could preserve flexibility by using ARPA to reimburse eligible prior expenses and then redirect county capital reserves toward the courthouse project or other capital needs.
After discussion about priorities and the legal constraints on ARPA usage, the board voted in favor of Option 3 — supplanting prior eligible emergency‑services expenditures — by voice vote. County staff said this approach would allow purchases that are already completed or in progress to be recorded as ARPA obligations and thereby free general‑fund dollars for pressing capital needs.
Commissioners directed staff to work through operational questions — especially the diversion center’s security and licensure status — before revisiting any acquisition. The county manager and staff said they will brief the board at the September meeting on implementation steps and obligations to ensure compliance with Treasury guidance.
