A look at how American Rescue Plan Act monies have addressed needs in Saline County
Saline County residents may have a faint memory of filling out a survey back in 2021 where they were asked what new federal aid via the American Rescue Plan Act should go toward addressing in their community.
It was a series of questions the county sent out during the downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic to get a sense of where the community was hurting most.
From the results of that survey, general categories were identified, and since, Saline County has stuck to a plan of allocating its $10.5 million in federal aid to those needs.
The American Rescue Plan Act, commonly referred to as ARPA, is a $1.9 trillion stimulus passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. It was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to speed up the nation’s recovery by addressing health and economic impacts of the pandemic.
About 20 months ago marked the beginning of Saline County allocating ARPA funds toward local initiatives. And about 20 months from now sits the deadline to have all ARPA monies allocated.
“We’ve gotten this federal funding and we’ve tried really hard not to waste it,” said Phillip Smith-Hanes, county administrator. “We have tried really hard to put it toward needs in the community that we heard from the community.”
At the halfway point in local ARPA allocation, here’s a breakdown of what local needs Saline County has addressed with the federal aid.
Note: Some allocated numbers at this point may change at a later date as a result of changes in project scopes or re-allocation. Allocation numbers in this story are as of Feb. 24.
Business and Nonprofit Recovery
$1,791,365 allocated.
There are four main projects within the scope of this category. Two of them are in full swing and two are still working on getting off the ground.
Choose Saline County App
The Choose Saline County App aims to help people discover the county’s unique and diverse businesses and events while supporting the recovery of the local economy. Through consumer choice, the app encourages and informs its users about shopping, dining and supporting local.
More:Saline County looking for more businesses as local loyalty app launch approaches
Smith-Hanes said the app has generated more than $1 million in economic impact back into the community.
Capital Improvements for Nonprofits Grant
The county awarded grants to a number of different nonprofit organizations in the community as part of the business and nonprofit recovery category. Those organizations have begun utilizing those funds for different kinds of projects depending on the organization.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina, the Central Kansas Mental Health Center and the Salina Innovation Foundation were among seven total nonprofit organizations awarded.
Maintenance base at the Salina Regional Airport
After some initial ideas for aid to the Salina Regional Airport did not materialize due to issues like a shortage of pilots, the County approved ARPA funding earlier this month to help with adding a maintenance base for passenger aircraft.
More:Salina Airport looks to add maintenance base for passenger airline
Agreements are still in negotiation, but the base would be underway by the end of 2023 if agreed by all parties.
Downtown Business Incubator
Incubator spaces are known as best practices for helping start-ups create an idea or innovative market without the high risk of immediately taking on costly overhead and administrative expenses.
With these goals in mind, the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce provided the Saline County Commission with a proposal to use American Rescue Plan Act funding to support a project that would allow for an incubator space downtown.
More:A new plan in Salina might give retail and specialty food entrepreneurs a head start
The process has gotten a slow start after county approval last October, but a request for proposal is now out for a partner to locate the downtown incubator space.
Housing
$2,500,000 allocated.
Some of this allocation went toward phase one of development at Southview Estates. The county allocated $1 million toward infrastructure work for the group of developers building townhomes and single-family homes at a site in south Salina.
Another $1 million went toward partnering with the city of Salina on new multi-family development, and $500,000 went toward addressing existing housing rehabilitation.
More:Saline County residents can apply for program that aims to reduce energy bills
The county has been working with the city to leverage local funding in efforts to match a $25 million state grant that the city was able to secure in the last legislative session. That process is still ongoing, with the city reviewing responses to it request for proposal.
Economic and Workforce Development
$498,650 allocated.
Monies in this category have gone toward a truck driving program at Salina Area Technical College, education programs at Kansas Wesleyan University and Airframe Certification programs at Kansas State University - Salina.
Workforce Development - Childcare
$400,000 allocated.
County commissioners and staff have talked a lot about needing partners to achieve something meaningful in this category. Childcare services are an obvious need in the community, but there is little the county government can do to provide an adequate solution without the help of other entities.
“That is one that I would say is sort of a resounding non-success to this point,” Smith-Hanes said. “We still have not figured out what we want to do in childcare.”
Water Wastewater Infrastructure Grants
$634,499 allocated.
The funds in this category are going toward addressing needs in rural water districts and was one of the first ARPA funding projects launched by the county. But there have been some supply chain issues that have affected the timeline of getting the projects that are paid for through ARPA funding complete.
At the beginning of 2023, some progress has been made in getting work done at various rural locations.
Broadband Infrastructure Grants
$400,000 allocated.
Much like the issue of childcare, the county needs interested outside entities to help explore options on what exactly can be done about the local broadband needs in Saline County.
Grants in this allocation are targeted to task force identified needs in the community.
“We know there’s a need, but targeting the money in a way that addresses the need has been more of a challenge than we anticipated almost two years ago,” Smith-Hanes said.
Public Safety and Criminal Justice
$2,804,528 allocated.
Funds in this category have gone toward addressing some existing needs and a surprise need after legislation brought three new judges into the 28th Judicial District Court last year.
The majority of funds in this category, $2,290,283, are going toward courtroom remodeling in the City-County Building.
More:Saline County to remodel part of city county building for new judges
The remainder is split between addressing a backlog in courts and what the county coined "Safer and Healthier" grants. These grants were awarded to the Central Kansas Mental Health Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina, the 28th Judicial District and United Way of Salina for various organization-based programs.
Continuing Public Health Needs
$201,872 allocated.
The funds in this category were split between county emergency paid sick leave, a county vaccine incentive, county vaccine promotion, county breakthrough leave, a health equity program and mental health text messaging service.
The text message service is in partnership with Cope Notes, an organization that uses technology to provide daily mental health support with a text message.
More:Saline County invests in residents’ mental health by partnering with text message program Cope Notes
Poverty Reduction
$248,250 allocated.
The county approved ARPA funding in this category for disaster kits, community clean-up initiatives like removal of tires, counseling, Community Navigator and Capacity Building for Housing Rehabilitation.
Other Investments
Employee Inflation Adjustment: $434,866
Community Mental Health Partnership: $200,000
More:Saline County signs mental health responders program into action
Administrative costs: $418,326 (for things like public information programming, planning for road projects and task orders)
As of February, around 80% of the ARPA funding provided to Saline County has been spoken for. All of the funding needs to be spent by December 2024, or promptly after, under ARPA guidelines.
Kendrick Calfee has been a reporter with the Salina Journal since 2022, primarily covering county government and education. You can reach him at kcalfee@gannett.com or on Twitter @calfee_kc.
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Here's how Saline County has used ARPA funds to address local needs
