GREENFIELD — CARES Act funding will likely help the Hancock County government keep its finances on track for the next few years, members of the county council said this week.
The county is on track to receive more than $2 million from the federal COVID-19 aid program.
County council member Jim Shelby said the county can expect to be reimbursed for most of the additional money it spent during the pandemic through the CARES Act. Hancock County was allocated up to $2,477,115 of funding through the legislation.
However, Shelby said, the county could still face a budget shortfall in 2022. At that point, based on projections created by the county’s financial advisers, tax revenue is still expected to be down by approximately 20%.
At the moment, Shelby said, the county’s general obligation bond fund is in the negative. The fund has been used to pay for several of the unexpected expenses that have come up during the pandemic. However, the fund is expected to be in the black again once CARES Act funding for the county is approved by the state.
County Auditor Debra Carnes said she has received an email from the State Board of Accounts saying the county can expect to have its funding approved by next week.
At the county council’s next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, it will hold a public hearing on the disbursement of the funds. Approximately $550,000 of the money received is set to go back into the general obligation bond fund.
County council president Bill Bolander said he thinks the county’s financial status for the next few years will be improved by having that money in the reserves. It could be used to make up for a property tax shortfall which, due to the approximately 18-month lag in how taxes are assessed and paid, will likely come in 2022.
“That money that we’ve got, we’ll put it in the reserves for that, and hopefully by then things will start picking back up,” Bolander said.
Despite the problems caused by COVID-19, Bolander said he believes the county’s finances are in good shape for the future because of its responsible budgeting in the past and continued economic development that is bringing new businesses to the area.
In addition to the money allocated to the county, the Hancock County Tourism Commission will receive an additional $26,033 through a grant from the state for arts and cultural organizations. County council members said the allocation of that funding needed to be fast-tracked so that it could be approved by the end of the year, as the county government was not informed of the grant by tourism officials until recently.
At its meeting on Thursday, Dec. 3, the Hancock County Commissioners suspended their usual rules so they could introduce and approve a motion to approve the funding at the same meeting. This will allow the county council to grant final approval on Dec. 9.
Like local governments across the country, the county has faced a drop in tax revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic driven by an overall economic downturn as well as the decrease in people doing activities like dining out, staying in hotels and purchasing gasoline. The county has also had several significant expenditures related to the coronavirus, such as the ongoing construction to repurpose the community corrections building as additional jail space so inmates can be quarantined.
The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) is a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress as a response to COVID-19. Much of its funding goes to reimbursing state, county and local governments for expenses related to the virus. Governments were allocated a maximum amount of funding they could receive, but were required to apply to be reimbursed for specific expenses. Qualifying expenses included personal protective equipment, equipment needed for employees to work from home, and COVID-19-related overtime pay, among others.