TUPELO • County leaders are actively exploring the possibility of using federal recovery funds to help fund the construction of a new jail and law enforcement complex.
Over the next two years, Lee County will receive about $16 million in aid money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion stimulus act signed into law in March.
Designed to bolster the economy, businesses and individuals still reeling from the prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARPA had many provisions, among them significant appropriations for state and local governments.
Local governments can use the money to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, offset lost revenue linked to the pandemic and for water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
With a relatively broad set of criteria, the county’s administrator believes that ARPA money can likely be used for at at least some components of a new jail.
“There are things that I think are eligible, but I don’t know what the costs of those items are,” said Bill Benson.
Some local officials moving slow in face of broad criteria
Benson believes that isolation cells — which could be used for quarantining purposes — and enhanced ventilation systems could be covered with ARPA funds.
More broadly, Benson said there’s interest in exploring the eligibility of any potential infrastructure projects currently under consideration, including a potential renovation or expansion of the library.
However, uncertainty abounds.
“That’s one of the problems. There is not someone who will give you a definitive answer, this qualifies, or no, this doesn’t,” Benson said.
The city of Tupelo will receive a little over $9 million but is also moving at a cautious pace.
“We’ve had discussions, but nothing concrete,” said Chief Operations Officer Don Lewis. “Our biggest issue is getting clarification on what it exactly can be used on. We’ve looked at infrastructure. We’ve looked at drainage. We’ve looked at some Water & Light projects. We’ve looked at some recreation projects.”
Presley urges action to remedy deficient utility access
Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley — who represents the state’s northern district — encouraged Lee County and other local governments to keep foremost in mind the needs of constituents with inadequate utility service.
“We know right now that there are citizens in Lee County who are on private wells that don’t have community water supply, that lack broadband, and I hope the county will put emphasize also on these needs,” Presley said. “My door is open.”
Benson noted that Lee County itself does not own any water, sewer or broadband systems. Some counties have explored the possibility of offering grants to rural water providers and other private entities.
Despite offering some potential snags with this course of action, such as monitoring grant recipients, Benson said all options will be duly considered.
“I think at this point, the board is still wide open to listen to anything,” Benson said. “There certainly haven’t been any decisions made about anything.”
Last week, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann told the Daily Journal that he supports a plan that would see the state use its own ARPA funds to provide matching dollars for qualifying local government projects. Under this plan, the state would use these matching funds to incentivize high-impact spending at the local level.
“We want to see generational projects,” Hosemann said.
Future action on jail project remains murky
There’s not yet any price tag of a potential new jail. In fact, there aren’t even any plans drawn up or an architect hired.
“I think that would be the next step, to procure an architect, but when that goes forward, I don’t know,” Benson said. “I think we’re at a point where we’ve got to have some hard costs.”
And even as there’s uncertainty about when an architect might be hired, there remains uncertainty about local efforts to mandate a referendum election before the county borrows any money to build a jail.
Circuit Clerk Camille Dulaney Roberts has taken the stance that a petition demanding a referendum election fell short of the mandatory 1,500 signatures.
Petition organizers have taken the view that Roberts disqualified valid signatures and that supervisors should set her findings aside. A Daily Journal analysis that the Lee County Circuit Clerk’s office used inconsistent criteria in qualifying or disqualifying signatures.
The county attorney, Gary Carnathan, believes that legal precedent is clear: Supervisors get the final say on deciding the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition effort.
Benson said supervisors likely won’t wade into that topic until there’s actually an intent to go ahead and issue bonds, at which point supervisors would be required to either find the petition sufficient and order a referendum election, or find it insufficient and issue bonds.
The county currently has signaled the intent to issue as much as $80 million in bonds, though many supervisors have insisted they would never actually authorize that much borrowing.
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County explore use of federal recovery money to aid in jail construction - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
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