Thurston County has spent less than a fifth of its federally allocated COVID-19 recovery fund, raising concerns among staff it may not spend it all by a 2024 deadline.
On Thursday, staff presented the Board of County Commissioners with a breakdown of how the county has spent the $56.4 million in its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Recovery Fund.
The county received the first half of that sum in May 2021 and the second half a year later. Over that time, the county has spent about $10 million of the $20.4 million it has officially approved so far, said Diana Arens, a county senior budget analyst.
Funds must be spent or obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, to meet the requirements of the county's contract with the federal government, said Assistant County Manager Robin Campbell.
Given the current spending rate, Campbell is concerned the county may not be able to spend the entire fund.
"I think we need to take a hard look because ... we can't wait until midway through 2024 to decide, 'Oh maybe we can try a new path on how to get it spent,'" Campbell said. "It's been taking some time to get things set up."
About $36.1 million in earmarked funds have not yet been approved for specific projects, Arens said. This means the county cannot start spending these funds.
In many cases, funds for some approved uses have been spent slowly, Arens said. This includes funds to address case backlogs at Superior and District courts as well as funds for some United Way programs, she said.
In other cases, Arens expressed concerned some projects run by non-profit organizations have spent out their grant allocations.
Unspent funds
Campbell pointed out several earmarked allocations. One of the highest amounts still under consideration is $7.5 million for affordable housing projects.
County documents indicate the board previously approved $1.5 million for this purpose and $825,547 has been spent so far.
County Manager Ramiro Chavez said the board approved this amount to jointly purchase and develop a 5.9-acre site on Franz Anderson Road with the city of Olympia.
The $7.5 million under consideration will most likely go toward efforts to purchase two hotels in Thurston County, Chavez said. However, those plans have yet to solidify.
The county hopes to turn hotels into enhanced shelters and later permanent supportive housing, according to county documents. This should help house people displaced by Gov. Jay Inslee's rights-of-way initiative, which will clear out and clean up encampments along the freeway, he said.
Among the most notable concerns is the county's court case backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board previously approved about $1.3 million to help decrease the court backlog, but Campbell said the county has only spent about $167,295 so far. And yet, she said the county has also earmarked about $6.7 million more for this purpose.
Much of the funding is needed to fill attorney positions at the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and in Public Defense. However, Campbell said these offices have had a difficult time finding attorneys.
Commissioner Tye Menser, who has experience as an attorney, said those offices may eventually have to give up on spending the approved and earmarked amounts.
"They're going to run out of time," Menser said. "It's not like they can just go buy a hotel. It's a very steady process of attorney salaries to do attorney work. It can't accelerate beyond a certain pace."
Chavez said he understands attorneys are in high demand and other counties have been experiencing similar problems. He said he has put county officials on notice of the concerning spending rate.
The county also has about $500,000 approved and $3.5 million under consideration for expanding broadband in rural Thurston County.
Chavez said he expects the county to use these funds to complement efforts by the Nisqually tribe to connect under-served areas.
Other projects the county has approved or considered funding for include support for public health, agriculture, infrastructure projects, and small businesses.
Next steps
Arens said staff are preparing a community survey to gather public input on how the county has been spending its ARPA Recovery Fund.
The survey should be sent out in the coming weeks and responses will be used to gauge community priorities, she added.
The board decided to review the county's ARPA Recovery Fund spending rate about every two months. Campbell said the board should have some community input by the time they revisit this topic.
"There's lots of things to consider and there's not a deadline coming up, but the sooner the better so we can spend all the funds that we received," Campbell said.
