Kane County deciding what to do with $103 million more in federal assistance
Projects that provide long-term benefits to Kane County residents, such as Wi-Fi access, water quality improvements and child care, will be at least part of the debate as officials decide how to best spend $103.4 million in federal funding coming from the American Rescue Plan that Congress passed in March.
The funds are designed to assist local economic recovery efforts and help governments address pandemic-related problems. Kane County is still closing the books on the $93 million in similar CARES Act funds it received last year.
Having addressed some of the most pressing needs of local business owners, renters and fellow taxing bodies with the CARES Act, county officials signaled last week they may have other plans for American Rescue Plan funds.
"The money is not ours," said county board Chair Corinne Pierog. "It belongs to our constituents. We have to determine how to use the funds in ways it will best affect them, both in the short and long term. This is one-shot funding, but with this money, we can do an awful lot of good."
How much good will depend on how much money the county decides to keep for itself. Guidelines from the U.S. Treasury allow the county to use the money to make up for tax revenues lost because of the pandemic and address pandemic-related costs, such as those for health department workers and sheriff's office employees who dedicated more than 50% of their time to pandemic-related work.
The county's finance department believes it's possible to justify using all but about $18 million on those expenses. But county board members indicated they would not be comfortable keeping that much of the money.
Other valid uses that came up during the discussion included funding for local mental health service providers, expanding Wi-Fi access to underserved areas or people, mitigating county wells with lead infiltration and possible infrastructure enhancements.
Pierog and county board member Cliff Surges pointed to the lingering problem of unaffordable and unavailable child care keeping people from returning to work.
Surges said in his private-sector work, he sees a tension between workers who have returned to their offices versus those who continue to work from home. In a lot of cases, the employees working from home still are struggling with child care needs.
"Child care needs is the most real thing we are encountering right now," he said. "When school returns, even that is not a total solution because schools don't keep kids there to 6 o'clock at night when people are working. I fear, as a society, we are kicking a can down the road. We need to address that problem."
Though not specifically discussed, county officials may also consider using some money for local forest preserves. Kane County Board members also serve as forest district commissioners. Guidelines for use of the federal dollars do say the money can be used to invest in parks, public plazas and public outdoor recreation spaces, all of which saw, and continue to see, increased use in the COVID-19 era.
The county will reconvene the task force that oversaw the previous federal dollars to make recommendations about how to use the latest assistance money. The task force will meet next month and is expected to begin its work by hiring an outside consultant to help track the money and assure it is spent according to the federal guidelines.