COVID Has Been Costly. ARPA is Intended to Help

Posted 11/12/21 (Fri)

by Robert Wilson, Cass County Administrator

I was asked to present Cass County’s plan to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds at the NDACo Annual Conference last month.  After some quick reflection it was clear to me that as significant as ARPA funding is to Cass County, it’s difficult to separate this program’s impact from the overall COVID-19 response effort over the last 18 months.  I was happy to share a summary of the county’s overall effort.

The world changed quickly in March 2020 as States of Emergency were declared across the country, in North Dakota, and in Cass County.  We first identified initial needs and divided those into categories of ‘easy’, and ‘more difficult’, to accomplish.  Easy items included enabling remote working where possible, limiting face to face interactions, and adjusting county facilities to ‘open by appointment only.”  Most of these changes occurred within days. 

More difficult tasks included creating social distancing space in the jail, courtrooms, and jury deliberation rooms.  Sheriff Jesse Jahner and the jail staff made short-term procedural adjustments while longer term solutions were developed.  Ultimately the county expanded the jail intake area to create more space in one of the busiest locations in the facility.  Two small courtrooms were also converted into one larger courtroom that better accommodated social distancing.  A combination of CARES and ARPA funding were used to accomplish these tasks.

The collaboration between NDACo, the ND Office of Management & Budget and ND League of Cities was very helpful during this process. It allowed counties to receive CARES funds based on law enforcement salary reimbursement and to utilize funds without the initial time and usage restrictions.

By this spring and summer, ARPA funding had been approved by Congress and NACo and NDACo were providing regular updates about navigating the often-confusing federal usage and reporting requirements.  NACo was a leader among local government organizations in providing direction and information to members. 

NDACo was fortunate to have Eryn Hurley, NACo Deputy Director of Government Affairs, speak at our annual conference.  “I appreciated the opportunity to speak and engage with county leaders from the great state of North Dakota.  To ensure our nation’s preparedness and responsiveness continues, it is critical for counties to invest ARPA Recovery Funds to support our residents and communities.”

Cass County’s ability to develop an ARPA policy and identify meaningful eligible projects would have been much more difficult without our partners at NDACo and NACo.  The County Commission is currently refining needs and expects to commit to significant specific projects in the coming months.