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Commission pauses ARPA recapture, directs limited reallocations and pushes staff to speed reimbursements
Summary
Faced with pleas from nonprofit subgrantees who said reimbursements were pending, the Athens-Clarke County Commission decided March 3 not to recapture ARPA funds immediately and instead approved limited internal reallocations while directing staff and the Chamber of Commerce to accelerate reimbursements.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission on March 3 declined to recapture a menu of ARPA awards after multiple nonprofit subgrantees told the commission that reimbursements were still in process and that premature recaptures would harm programming.
Leaders from the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and dozens of subgrantees described a multi-step reimbursement workflow: subgrantees spend funds, submit reimbursement requests to the Chamber, the Chamber validates and forwards approvals to county staff, and the county issues payment. Speakers said delays—often tied to documentation, staffing transitions, and paper-check processing—left several organizations with expenditures unpaid for months and at risk of interrupting services.
"A premature recapture would negatively impact their program budget and service delivery," said Alvie Co of the Athens Chamber, who urged the commission to delay any recapture while reimbursements are finalized. Quality Care for Children representatives said they expected to reach planned spending thresholds after recently purchasing laptops and completing program activities.
After extended discussion, including an explanation from staff that the process has involved more than 90 meetings with subrecipients and the Chamber to resolve issues, the commission voted to forego immediate recapture and to allow internal reallocations limited to items identified as G, H and I in the commission packet (technical reallocations tied to program delivery). Commissioners also directed staff to provide a revised budget ordinance reflecting those reallocations and to return with a status check in July. Commissioner Fischer recused him/herself from the final vote.
County manager and staff repeatedly emphasized that faster processing of reimbursement requests—timely submissions from subrecipients, timely review by the Chamber, and timely county review—would substantially speed payments. Several commissioners urged the county to move to electronic disbursements rather than paper checks to reduce payment lag.
Next steps: The commission directed staff to produce a revised budget ordinance to enact the limited reallocations (G, H and I), continue working with the Chamber to validate reimbursements, and report progress at a future checkpoint (target: July).
Vote/ethics note: The motion to not pursue immediate recapture and to allow the limited reallocations passed; Commissioner Fischer recorded a recusal.
