How will Beaufort Co. spend its $37.3M in federal COVID-19 relief funds? What we know
Beaufort County plans to spend $37.3 million in federal COVID-19 relief money on a slew of major projects, including the construction of amenities for the planned New Riverside Park in Bluffton and the creation of a trust fund to tackle the region’s lack of workforce housing.
The County Council’s executive committee was briefed Monday on the wide-ranging list of projects. In the coming months, the projects will be presented to different council committees, and the full council, for votes and public comment.
The list, as of Monday, still lacked many details about the projects.
Jared Fralix, assistant county administrator, said it was clear that some of the projects could be brought back to the council for votes more quickly than others, based on elected officials’ feedback during the executive committee meeting.
Council members, for example, were excited about an idea to use $700,000 of the federal relief funds to help launch a pilot program in which high schools north and south of the Broad River would offer a certified nursing assistant degree track for students.
South Carolina is facing a shortage of nurses as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.
Some council members also appeared to be interested in moving forward with the housing trust fund sooner rather than later.
The county plans to use $1.2 million of its federal relief money to seed the trust fund, with the goal of creating new housing — or rehabilitating or preserving existing housing — for families at or below 120% of the Area Median Income. (The trust fund will have a “strong focus” on assisting households at or below 60% of the Area Median Income.)
County Council Chairman Joe Passiment added that he believes it’s important for Beaufort County to prioritize a plan to spend $905,000 of its federal American Rescue Plan funds on consulting and fiscal managers to ensure that it meets various spending deadlines set by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
“It seems like there are some (projects) that are ‘right away, easy, let’s move forward,’ and then there’s others that are, ‘let’s do some edits from today’s comments and come back and retool them,’” Fralix said.
What is the American Rescue Plan?
Congress passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, or ARPA, in early March. The ARPA included $350 billion in emergency funds for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to use on a wide variety of projects related to the pandemic.
Local officials now have broad authority on how to spend the federal money. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has prohibited governments from using ARPA dollars on only a handful of issues, such as funding tax cuts or making contributions to public employee pension plans.
Governments can use their ARPA funds to support COVID-19 mitigation efforts, address the pandemic’s economic impacts, provide services to hard-hit communities, replace lost public-sector revenue, provide hazard pay to essential workers or invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
Beaufort County must obligate all of its ARPA money by late 2024 and spend it by December 2026.
“(The ARPA) will make historic investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, innovation, research and development,” President Joe Biden said earlier this year.
What is Beaufort County’s plan for its ARPA funds?
Here’s a list of the more detailed projects that Beaufort County currently plans to use its ARPA funds for:
A program to pay off college loans for Beaufort County School District teachers: $1 million
An initiative to recruit and retain EMS and Detention Center employees: $500,000
A pilot program to offer a certified nursing assistant degree track for BCSD students at high schools north and south of the Broad River: $700,000
The creation of a regional housing trust fund: $1.2 million
The use of an executive recruiter, when needed, to help the county find specialized workers to fill open positions: $200,000
An upgraded alert system for emergency responders: $2.5 million
One-time disbursements of $500,000 per municipality to the towns of Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, Port Royal and Yemassee and the cities of Beaufort and Hardeeville. The funds must be used for ARPA-eligible projects: $3 million
A new splash pad and play area for children on St. Helena Island: $1.25 million
The construction of amenities such as restrooms, parking lots and trailheads at the planned New Riverside Park in Bluffton: $1 million
New signage for Reconstruction Era historic sites in the county: $350,000
A partnership with other entities, including the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation and the University of South Carolina Beaufort, to buy and renovate a facility to house the South Coast Cyber Center’s cybersecurity training: $500,000
Financial assistance for the Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association: $250,000
A mental health telehealth program for Detention Center inmates: $1 million
General infrastructure projects: $8 million
General water and sewer improvements: $3 million
The study of, and the planning for, a countywide ferry service: $500,000
Consulting and fiscal management for the spending of ARPA funds: $905,000
Some of Beaufort County’s proposed projects remain mostly conceptual. For example, the county plans to use $3 million to create or improve “community buildings” in Gardens Corner and on Daufuskie and St. Helena islands.
“There is a lack of neighborhood community meeting spaces where various partners can reach residents,” a Thursday news release from the county reads.
The county’s complete ARPA funding list can be found online at: bit.ly/BeaufortCountyARPA
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 3:57 PM.
