Meadowtown holds public hearing to formally allocate $38,819 in ARPA funds to water salaries

Meadowtown officials on an open public record explained and sought comment on a plan to allocate $38,819 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant money into the town’s water account to backfill wages paid in fiscal years 2021 through 2023.

The funds, Speaker 1 said at the start of the hearing, were deposited into Meadowtown’s general fund when the grant was received and could not be used without a formal allocation. "Meadowtown received $38,819 in ARPA funds," Speaker 1 said, adding the grant had conditions and primarily allowed infrastructure uses. Staff proposed moving the amount into the water fund to align reporting and satisfy the grant’s requirements.

Council members and staff told the hearing the ARPA money had to be committed by Dec. 31 to avoid returning it to the federal government. Speaker 4 said staff created a new line item and recorded prior wage expenses under "water salaries and wages," and that the administrative step being taken is meant to match the town’s budget and federal reporting. "We have to have an actual commitment," Speaker 1 said, explaining the transfer would backfill wages for 2021, 2022 and 2023 and would not be applied to 2024 or 2025 wages.

During the question-and-answer portion, Speaker 7 asked whether $38,000 worth of employee payments occurred during those three years; Speaker 4 confirmed payroll dates and employee names were analyzed for the federal report. Staff said the reported total was slightly more than $38,819 when listing individual payroll entries and that they would supply exact dates in the transparency uploads.

Staff and council also described how the town could reallocate some or all of the funds later. Speaker 1 and Speaker 4 explained the immediate step is to move the funds administratively into the water account to fulfill ARPA reporting; any future transfer to roads, power or other funds would require another public hearing. Speaker 4 recommended council members bring reallocation proposals to the June budget hearing to avoid multiple midyear hearings.

Speaker 4 told the hearing that many small towns chose to use ARPA for salaries because they were below the $1 million threshold that made construction contracts more administratively complex. "A lot of the smaller towns did that, used it for salaries and wages," Speaker 4 said, characterizing the approach as a common practice among comparable jurisdictions.

The public hearing followed a short presentation and a period of questions from council members and the public. Speaker 3 moved to close the public hearing; Speaker 4 seconded. Speaker 1 called the vote and, after 'Aye' was voiced, closed the hearing.

Next steps identified at the hearing include staff completing the required federal and state transparency uploads reflecting the transfer into the water account for 2021–2023 and council discussion of specific reallocation proposals at the June budget meeting.