Cobb County plans to hire a consultant to advise local officials how to spend the nearly $148 million in pandemic-relief funding destined to hit the county’s coffers this year.
Cobb is set to receive nearly $148 million in federal aid as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that President Joe Biden signed into law in March.
The county received its first $73.8 million installment May 15, according to Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt. The county plans to contract with an independent consulting company that will study the areas of need both within Cobb County government and throughout the county.
Commissioners held a public hearing Tuesday to allow residents to voice their opinion on the prospect of Cobb County bringing on a financial advisor for the county’s ARPA funds. The contract will likely be at least $100,000, according to notices for the public hearing. No residents commented during Tuesday’s hearing.
Cobb, like many other communities, is awaiting guidelines from the U.S. Department of Treasury on exactly how the funds can be used. The consultant will help county officials determine how to best utilize the federal dollars, help the county craft guidelines for agencies to request funding and administer the program.
“Do we best use this money to recoup the costs the county may have lost because of the pandemic, or is it best that we send it out to the community for small business relief or more food insecurity programs,” Cavitt said.
Most of the ARPA funds are sitting in an account separate from the general budget while the county seeks bids from potential consulting firms. A committee will review the bids by Aug. 10 and Cobb’s board of commissioners may make a final decision in September, according to county officials.
Commissioners voted June 22 to appropriate $1.5 million in ARPA dollars to local nonprofits for food assistance programs. On Tuesday, the board approved $5,000 for direct mail notices that will be sent out to landlords, alerting them to the county’s emergency rental assistance program. The ARPA funds have remained unexpended otherwise, Cavitt said.
More than $600 million in CARES Act funding was allocated to local governments in metro Atlanta last year. The federal government sent Cobb County $132 million. Cobb dedicated about $10 million to the six cities within county lines.
The county doled out another $50 million to SelectCobb to assist thousands of small businesses and local non-profits hard hit by the pandemic. Cobb County also spent millions on rent relief for residents facing eviction, emergency food assistance for those in need, job-training programs as well as grants for low-income families.
Cobb also used $40 million in CARES Act funds to reimburse the county’s general fund and several public safety funds. The bulk of it was to repay public safety employees for overtime.
Cobb County officials say the ARPA funding can be spent on a wider range of things and it doesn’t have to be spent until the end of 2024. Cavitt said it was too early to speculate where the county may decide to spend the dollars.
“We hope that this next batch of federal money will have a similar effect either inside or outside of county government,” he said. “The challenge is that these are two different pots of money that have two different sets of regulations and restrictions. We’ve got to work through that to see exactly what’s the best thing to do with our money.”
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