Local governments in Johnson County can receive up to $8.6 million from the federal CARES Act to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Indiana received $2.6 billion from the CARES Act, with $160 million going to Indianapolis and Marion County, and $300 million being divided among all other municipalities, according to a breakdown by the Indiana Finance Authority, a division of the state’s Office of Management and Budget.
The funding is part of the $2 trillion dollar CARES Act Congress passed in March to help individuals, businesses and communities around the country fight coronavirus. Of the larger bill, $150 billion was allocated to state and local governments for coronavirus response.
The $8.6 million available to Johnson County, as well as its cities and towns, is based on population. Each can apply for a set amount of reimbursement established by the IFA for qualifying coronavirus-related expenses.
The largest amounts will go to the county and its two largest cities; the county may spend up to $5 million, Greenwood up to $1.9 million and Franklin up to $819,000. Smaller amounts are available to local small towns, ranging from $250,000 for Bargersville, to $41,000 for Trafalgar, according to the IFA.
The county, cities and towns are required to submit receipts and prove coronavirus-related expenditures are outside of pre-approved annual budgets. And those expenses must be for the period of March 1 to Dec. 30.
Most expenses fall into five categories. Some examples of approved spending include disinfectant and personal protective equipment, teleworking supplies such as laptops for remote work, coronavirus testing, contact tracing, public employee overtime incurred while responding to the pandemic, and providing grants or aid to local schools, businesses and residents to help with financial hardships due to the pandemic.
The Johnson County Council and most other municipalities are still looking at ways to spend the money.
The eligible spending categories are still evolving. It’s a moving target, said John Myers, county council president.
Johnson County EMA Director Stephanie Sichting and County Attorney Shena Johnson brought to the council’s attention Monday just how much money the county has at its disposal to respond to the pandemic, Myers said. Now that the council is aware of the broad categories and large amount, it can begin to look harder at other needs besides just PPE, he said.
One avenue the county plans to look at is preparing in case there is a resurgence in the fall that requires county employees and elected officials to work remotely. For example, the county could look at improving technology equipment for the county courts so they could continue remote hearings if necessary, Myers said.
“I think that is great to keep people working. If in the future we need to do this, we should be able to have court and keep the cases going,” he said.
So far, the council has approved $105,000 for the EMA and Johnson County Health Department to spend on PPE, cleaning supplies and other items for county employees, first responders and local long-term care facilities.
As of Wednesday, the health department had spent about $20,000 and the EMA had spent $25,000, officials said.
Other county departments together have spent about $13,000 on supplies, such as laptops for teleworking, disinfectant, sanitizer and masks, Sichting said.
The council plans to continue letting local health and public safety officials take the lead on coronavirus preparedness, as they are the local disaster response experts, Myers said. But the county’s primary goal is to stockpile and prepare for a possible resurgence, he said.
For the council, public safety preparedness is still one of its top priority. While there is a lot the funds can go toward, the essentials will come first, Myers said.
“My thing is to get reimbursed for what we have spent and get some kind of a stockpile for the future. I would like to be proactive and get what we need for the future and help out the other agencies in the county,” he said.
Officials in the county’s small towns are also looking at their options.
Edinburgh has established a committee comprised of the town’s fire chief, accounts payable clerk and director of administrative services has kept detailed records of all coronavirus-related spending, and prepared Edinburgh’s first application for CARES Act funding, said JT Doane, town manager.
So far, the town has spent $13,688 on a wide range of items including equipment to disinfect town buildings and vehicles, PPE for town employees and cleaning supplies, Doane said.
A future reimbursement request will include the town’s new intercom system and sneeze guards that have been put up to give more separation from germs as the town’s offices reopen to the public, he said.
The plan is to submit more requests for reimbursement over the course of the year, as its pandemic response is ongoing, Doane said. Since the future is uncertain, Doane is grateful to have the flexibility to spend up to $148,000 if the need arises, he said.
The Town of New Whiteland hasn’t discussed in-depth how to spend the money, but Clerk-Treasurer Maribeth Alspach is diving into the details, she said Friday.
Since so many New Whiteland residents are having trouble paying utility bills, she plans to look into how the town could help in that area, Alspach said.
“If there’s something I can do to not cause that additional stress, I will,” she said. “If there is something out there that can help my town, I’ve got to look into it.”
So far, New Whiteland has spent about $5,000 on COVID-19 response. In addition to sanitizing supplies, the town also bought a laptop so Alspach could work part-time from home, and coronavirus signage for the town’s parks.
Whiteland Town Manager Norm Gabehart and Trafalgar Clerk-Treasurer Donna Moore both said they are only planning to spend what is absolutely necessary, noting that their communities have not been hit hard by the pandemic.
With the EMA, local businesses and residents donating sanitizer and PPE, the town has only spent a few thousand dollars, Gabehart said.
“If I can’t legitimately come to the conclusion that I need something and look them in the face and say I need it, I won’t use it,” he said.
The Town of Trafalgar has spent $1,417, as they also received help from residents and local distilleries that are supplying free hand sanitizer, Moore said. Since town offices have been closed, the majority of the town’s spending was to buy PPE for its first responders, she said.
“Unless something major happens, I can’t see applying for money when other cities and towns have gotten into a lot of trouble (with this virus),” Moore said.
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Local governments are eligible for CARES Act reimbursements up to these amounts:
Johnson County; $5,068,529
Bargersville; $225,530
Edinburgh; $148,495
Franklin; $819,140
Greenwood; $1,906,980
New Whiteland; $199,626
Princes Lakes; $43,539
Trafalgar; $41,690
Whiteland; $143,336
Source: Indiana Finance Authority
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