LAWTON – The Board of Comanche County Commissioners will use part of its federal relief money to offset revenue losses due to the pandemic.
With little discussion, the commission voted 3-0 April 18 to choose the standard allowance for replacing lost revenue, using American Rescue Plan Act dollars. A provision in ARPA allows local units of government to use federal aid to fund government services, up to the amount of revenue those units lost due to the pandemic.
ARPA gave the county a choice; The county could either accept a standard allowance of up to $10 million to offset lost revenue, or it could complete a full calculation of how much money the county lost due to the pandemic.
The county will use the standard allowance to determine how much ARPA money will be earmarked for revenue replacement, according to the resolution approving the standard allowance. The amount set aside for replacing lost revenue cannot exceed the county’s total ARPA award.
Projects that are eligible for ARPA revenue replacement dollars will be encumbered within the county’s ARPA account or subaccount, whichever applies. The county may set up a subaccount within the ARPA account to keep track of its revenue replacement funds.
The commission must authorize any encumbrance or expenditure using ARPA funds.
The revenue-replacement money will come out of the county’s share of ARPA funds, estimated at $23 million. The county has received about $12.5 million so far and is expecting the rest later this year.