Jefferson County is in line to receive $26,406,492 from the federal government for COVID-19 relief efforts, but County Executive Dennis Gannon said he’s not sure how it will be spent.
According to the Missouri State Treasurer’s website, Jefferson County’s share of money disbursed to the state through the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act is the seventh-largest amount to be dispensed to counties around the state.
The state received $2,379,853,017 and then disbursed $173,481,106 to St. Louis County and $122,669,998 to Jackson County (the Kansas City area).
The rest was divvied up according to population.
In addition to St. Louis County and Jackson County, the city of St. Louis, St. Charles County, Greene County (Springfield) and Clay County (Kansas City area) will receive more than Jefferson County.
The local amount comes out to about $117 for each person who lives in Jefferson County, Gannon said.
“We haven’t received any money yet,” he said. “I’m not certain, but I believe it will be paid over multiple payments. If they were to give us a check for $26.4 million at one time, I’m fairly certain it would be the biggest check the county has ever gotten.”
Once the money is sent, Gannon said, it won’t be in the form of a blank check.
“What’s clear about this money is that it is to be used only for expenses that have been incurred because of the coronavirus,” he said. “If something was budgeted before March 27, that is not to be reimbursed, both at the county and local governmental unit levels.”
The CARES Act money also cannot be used to make up government revenue shortfalls, such as a decrease in sales tax revenue.
“That is very clear,” he said.
Gannon said the Treasurer’s Office guidelines about what the money can be used for were sketchy.
“It was a two-page document that specified that direct payments will be made to cover expenditures during the public health emergency,” he said. “They must be COVID-19 related.
“This will not just be for the county,” he said. “The county will distribute it to local governmental units, such as the municipalities, fire and ambulance districts and the Health Department.”
Gannon said how that money will be divided is still very much up in the air.
“We’re considering a process that the local governmental units will need to apply,” he said.
Whether school districts, which have been providing meals to students even though on-campus classes are not in session, will be eligible to apply for part of the $26.4 million has yet to be decided. School districts are political subdivisions, so their expenses might be allowed.
Gannon said he does not believe the county’s money can be distributed to businesses, either large or small, to help cover losses suffered during the pandemic.
“The federal government has programs such as the PPP (Payroll Protection Program) and SBA (Small Business Administration) grants and loans. My belief is this (the county’s money) is to be used by public political subdivisions.”
However the money is spent, Gannon said, it will be carefully tracked.
“The county’s Office of Emergency Management and Auditor’s Office are tracking the county government’s expenses very meticulously, but we will be requiring the same level of accountability from the cities and other governmental units that will be asking for this money,” he said.
“We fully expect that we will be audited by the state and federal governments, wanting to know exactly where this money is going.”
Gannon said members of the County Council also will be given regular reports on the disbursements.
He said he doesn’t know whether $26.4 million will be too much, not enough or just right.
“At this point, we just have no idea what that number is going to be.”
Gannon said under the act, any money unspent by Dec. 30 must be returned.
County has spent
$191K on virus so far
In a report to the County Council on April 27 – before the federal payment was announced – Gannon said the county government had spent $191,235 on coronavirus-related expenses and had paid out $84,374 of that amount.
“We’d expect that much of that will be covered (by the CARES Act money),” he said.
The lion’s share of the expenditures – about $134,000 – was spent to buy personal protective equipment for county government workers and for use by local government entities, like cities, law enforcement efforts and fire and ambulance districts.
Gannon said the equipment had been housed at the Sheriff’s Office evidence building in Pevely, but now is distributed through the Emergency Operations Office in Herculaneum.
The spending was authorized in an emergency ordinance passed by the County Council on March 23 that allows the county administration discretion to use the county’s emergency fund budget for COVID-19 expenses.
Under the budget approved in December, about $800,000 was included in the 2020 budget for emergencies.
