The Flathead County commissioners at their June 29 meeting voted 2-1 to accept $20 million in federal funding stemming from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which was passed by Congress in March.
The ARPA appropriated $19.53 billion to states for distribution to local government units, including cities and counties through grants, while also distributing funds directly to counties.
Flathead County is slated to receive $20.1 million directly from the Department of the Treasury, without any requirement of a match. The first half of the funding will be received this year, with the second half coming within a year.
In addition, ARPA sent money directly to the state to disperse as needed through minimum allocation grants. During the legislative cycle, House Bill 632 approved an additional $4,370,157 for Flathead County, although that allocation requires a one-to-one match from the county, and has stricter spending limitations.
ARPA’s objective is to accelerate economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, as well as pump money into public health and infrastructure projects.
Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Brad Abell voted in favor of accepting the federal money, while Commission Chair Randy Brodehl voted against it.
“I have significant concerns about the ARPA money,” Brodehl said. “It’s $20 million listed here, but it’s not $20 million in money, it’s $20 million of debt. Every one of us has heard the stories of our national debt, how it’s increasing, and everybody doesn’t like that, that I’ve talked to.”
“We’re talking about funds that are not there, but we’ll print the money and give it to Flathead County,” he continued.
Holmquist rebuked the notion that accepting the money was tantamount to increasing the national debt, as it would likely be re-allocated if the county refused it.
“If I thought for one minute us not taking this money would reduce the national debt, I’d be all over it,” Holmquist said. “I have a responsibility to the taxpayer… no matter how I feel individually, I’m here to help the taxpayer.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, three community members representing the Bigfork, Coram and Hungry Horse water and sewer districts requested that projects in each district be under consideration for ARPA funding.
At the same meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to adopt a preliminary budget for fiscal year 2022, which started July 1. The budget as outlined is projected to decrease county expenditures by 2.1%, with a total appropriation for all funds at $115,840,817. The biggest reasons for the overall decline was the separation of the Greater Valley Health Clinic from the county, which removed nearly $6 million in expenditures from the budget.
The commission also approved raising the fee for tree stump removal from $31.05 per ton to $90 per ton to appropriately compensate the solid waste district for the effort needed to dispose of large stumps from land clearing activities.
The commission also signed an amended version of the North Fork Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) project, which codifies the removal of the U.S. Border Patrol as a partner entity and moves the timeline back.
FLAP was established to improve transportation routes that provide access to, are adjacent to, or are located within federal lands, supplementing state and local resources for public roads. The local agencies are required to provide a 13.42% match of the federal funding.
In May, county Public Works Director David Prunty told the commission the project was delayed due to funding issues with the Border Patrol, which had deobligated its share of the funds.
The current timeline for the project has the primary construction work on the northernmost miles of North Fork road pushed to 2023, while road improvements from the Polebridge Mercantile to the pole bridge along across the Flathead River will take place next summer.