County Contracts With DA to Administer ARPA Funds

When the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act – ARPA – it allocated $1.9 trillion to stimulate the economy and support families. Individuals received checks and governments and businesses were also eligible for support to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

The state of Oklahoma was in line for $1.87 billion. Oklahoma County was the largest recipient of funds, at $154 million; Cimarron County in the far northwestern corner of the state got the smallest check, $415,087. Blaine County fell somewhere in the middle, at $1,831,473. Some of those funds have already arrived.

But the counties can’t just put the money in a pot, shake it up and pour it out on whatever they see fit. Guidelines and reporting practices must be met.

According to the Federal website on ARPA, eligible uses of these funds include COVID-19 expenditures or negative economic impacts of COVID-19, including assistance to small businesses, households and hard-hit industries, and economic recovery. Premium pay for essential workers. Other acceptable uses include investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

Administration of the money has turned into big business. Jennifer Haigler, the Blaine County Clerk, said within days of the money being released, she was contacted by several companies or consultants who would handle all the administration of the grant and allocation reporting of the funds for an 8% fee. Haigler figured there had to be a better way.

Canadian County had arranged with the office of District Attorney Michael Fields to administer the funds, so Haigler investigated whether that was an option for Blaine County as well. It was there the county hit paydirt.

The contract was negotiated for the office of the DA, specifically Tommy Humphries, to handle the administration of both the ARPA money and the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund for Blaine County as well.

Humphries said that office would file the quarterly reports, set up the website where applications could be made and handle proposals for funding. The fee for that would be 1 ½ percent, saving the county a significant amount.

Monday at the regular meeting of the county commission, it was agreed that the DA’s office was the best choice for the funds administration and the contract was approved.

There was no concrete date as to when the website would be open for application acceptance.