SHERIDAN — The local governments of Sheridan County expect to receive more than $8.95 million in American Rescue Plan funds later this year, according to recent estimates from the federal government.
How the dollars will be utilized is still unclear, although on May 10, the U.S. Department of Treasury released new guidance on how to spend the funds.
Sheridan City Administrator Stuart McRae said the city council planned to take its time deciding how to use its $2.74 million in ARP dollars.
“We are going to collectively put our heads together on how to best utilize these dollars,” McRae said.
“There will be discussions with the mayor and the council along with the city staff and the county as well. We will try to collaborate with the county to maximize what we can do with these funds.”
The American Rescue Plan, approved by the U.S. Congress in March and signed into law by President Joseph Biden, includes $350 billion in aid to states and local governments. The state of Wyoming expects to receive a total of $1.1 billion.
Locally, the biggest beneficiaries of the federal dollars will be Sheridan County, which will receive $5.91 million, and the city of Sheridan, which will receive $2.74 million.
The town of Ranchester is anticipating $159,000 with the town of Dayton receiving $126,000 and the town of Clearmont expecting $24,000.
The dollars can be spent as late as 2024, which gives local governments plenty of time to learn how the money can be spent and formulate a plan.
That extra time is a luxury of which most local governments plan to take full advantage.
“Until we find out all the rules and everything, we have not discussed any plans about how we want to spend that money,” Dayton Mayor Norm Anderson said. “We are kind of holding tight as we learn more about how the dollars can be used. And the nice thing is that we have the time. We don’t have to jump on it this month or even this year.”
Ranchester Mayor Peter Clark agreed.
“It kind of depends on the guidelines from the federal government and what they say we can use it for,” Clark said. “So we’re not rushing into anything right now. Once we have a better idea of the guidelines, we’ll just utilize those dollars to fund necessary projects in the town. We have to plan for the future whether we have this money or not, so this funding will just augment the dollars we have already set aside for future projects.”
On May 10, the Treasury Department provided its first guidance on how American Rescue Plan funds can be utilized by local governments. City attorney Brendon Kerns broke down those uses for the Sheridan City Council on Monday and said the dollars could be used for a variety of purposes including responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its economic impacts; providing additional pay to essential workers; recouping lost revenue; and funding infrastructure projects including water, sewer and broadband work.
“All of the things this money can be used for has to follow this basic test,” Kerns said. “You have to have a connection between a negative economic harm and COVID and the funding has to address that harm. So you’ve got a nexus here between harm and the money you’re putting into it.”
There are certain expenses the dollars cannot address, Kerns said. The dollars cannot be used for debt payments, deposits into pension funds or reserves, federal grant matching requirements or investment purposes.
The stipulations outlined by the Treasury Department still give local governments a fair amount of leeway in spending the dollars, McRae said, and the council plans to take its time determining the best way to do so.
“I think it’s important to note that we don’t have to settle on a single solution,” McRae said.
While conversations are still preliminary, McRae and county administrative director Renee Obermueller said their local governments had both discussed allocating some of the money to local infrastructure projects, primarily water and sewer work. Obermueller said there had also been discussion in the county about putting some money toward affordable housing projects.
“We are kind of just sitting back to see if other opportunities open up,” Obermueller said. “Right now, we are asking what we’re allowed to do with these dollars and which projects might have the largest impact on our community.”
The state should receive its first round of ARP funds by June 10, and it will be distributed to local governments within a month, Kerns said. The second installment of funds will be distributed a year later.
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Local government start discussing how to use ARP funds - The Sheridan Press
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