In late June, Governor Tim Walz authorized $600 million in aid to local governments impacted by COVID-19 from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Polk County received $3,985,249 in funding.
Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting said the County Board will need to figure out how to use its funding. “What we need to do is figure out how to use it all,” said Whiting. “That doesn’t mean it covers just Polk County expenses. We do have a considerable amount of COVID-19 related expenses that money can be used for, but I think one of the main purposes is to get it out into the communities to help other organizations that have incurred COVID-19 related expenses and costs. The question is, how do you do that?”
Whiting said that would include conversations with the county’s cities, schools, and other organizations, some of which he’s already had. “We talked to the board about in addition to the services the county provides discussing with other organizations, even school districts that are dealing with this,” said Whiting. “I talked to some of the cities and their economic development people about how they are using their CARES money because they received some too. Perhaps using the county’s funds to help supplement what they are doing.”
Whiting shared an example with the board that if a business applied for a $30,000 forgivable loan or grant through one of the county’s cities from the CARES Act, that cities could use county funds to supplement their program. The city may approve $20,000 from their CARES Act funds, with an additional $10,000 from Polk County.
The money can also be used to cover expenses that relate to COVID-19, including staffing and programs like Public Health’s work on COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. “The nuances of all this is that the intention of the money is for cities, counties, even townships to use the CARES money to pay for our COVID-19 expenses even if we have staff and programs budgeted for,” said Whiting. “What that means for us is we may not have to spend funds the county has collected through taxes, fees, and so forth because eight months ago we weren’t dealing with this. That means the likelihood of having budgeted funds not spent, which strictly speaking would go to the county’s fund balances depending on the types of funds we have, and what to do with those for the 2021 budget and COVID-19 related expenses we may have in 2021. Perhaps earmarking those unspent funds so that they can be spent next year assuming there is no more federal or state money coming.”
Whiting says he feels the money should be put to use within Polk County as any money not spent before December 1 will go back to the State of Minnesota. “There is a lot at play,” said Whiting. “I think our initial sense for the board, and certainly myself is to get this $4 million put to use. We’re required if that’s not put to use to send it back to the State of Minnesota, which is fine, but they gave it to us for a reason. Now we just have to figure out how to do it. This is going on in every county and many cities around the state trying to figure this out because generally you’re not given money to push out. We’re getting some good guidance from the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC). And AMC is working with the State Management and Budget Office to get the guidance, so we do it correctly. But, boy, there’s not a lot of time.”
Whiting said he knows people, businesses, and non-profits in the county are struggling as part of the pandemic, so the goal is to get a program in place to help them. “There is a lot of people, businesses, non-profit organizations hurting right now,” said Whiting. “We know that. The board seemed to agree that that’s the best approach, and now it’s just a way of trying to make it happen. I have department heads working on this, and two cities that contacted me during the meeting today, so I know everybody is trying to get their act together on this. Hopefully, in the next two to three board meetings, we should be able to feel like we’ve got an actual program.”
With the extra COVID-19 unemployment benefit having ended, it is a concern that more pressure could be put on Social Services programs. Current thought is Congress may consider a new unemployment benefit next week, but Whiting said it’s hard to know what that might look like. He added that increased pressure on social services programs was a realistic concern. “I think that’s a very realistic concern because we’ll see those people,” said Whiting. “That’s what we’re here to do in a lot of cases. I can’t tell you today, August 4, what that’s going to mean. There is news today that perhaps Congress will get to something next week (to extend unemployment benefits). But for people who suddenly lost their job or owe rent that they can’t pay, we see them as soon as they can get to us. There are programs to pay for that. How this all factors in with the CARES money, I’d think there would be a tie as long as it’s somehow COVID-related. And right now, it’s probably harder to find things that aren’t COVID-related then those that are.”
Whiting also noted the Polk County buildings are open. And while needing appointments and checking people at the door make things less convenient, the goal is to keep a safe and healthy environment so that the county can continue to provide services. “Our buildings are open,” said Whiting. “Just want to reiterate that. We’re doing what a lot of people probably see when they go into the open commercial establishments. We’re checking people at the front of the government center. We’re asking them to get appointments for the license center and the taxpayer service center. But people are being served, and we’re trying to accommodate as best as we can while maintaining proper social distancing and a healthy environment. We get scares from time to time of outbreaks here or there. What we’re trying to do is keep it safe, so the county has got people to do these services. If we suddenly get the bug going through an entire department and everybody is at home on quarantine, it will be pretty hard to do some of these services. We’ll get people served. It’s not as easy, maybe as it was before. A little less convenient, but we’re trying to make it as easy as possible.”
