Oklahoma County received over $154 million in ARPA funding. What has it spent so far?

JaNae Williams, Oklahoman
·3 min read
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The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners meeting room is shown in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners meeting room is shown in Oklahoma City.

When President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 billion American Rescue Plan Act, Oklahoma County received more than $154.8 million in relief. County officials said they would focus on addressing needs originating internally and then look at possible projects elsewhere in the community.

To date, more than $30 million in funding has been approved for use on 33 projects across the county's departments. What are those projects and how much are they getting? Here's a breakdown of coronavirus relief funding that has been allocated to date.

Oklahoma County sheriff's office has received the most ARPA funding so far

The sheriff's office has received funding for three projects, yet the total it has received is higher than any other department. The total awarded to the sheriff's office so far is nearly $11.8 million.

About $3.2 million of that has been approved for two reimbursements to the office's special revenue fund for fiscal years 2021 and 2022.

However, the bulk of the funds the office received ― over $8.6 million ― went to a project called "Comprehensive Community Violence Intervention," the single most expensive project awarded funding so far. Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said the program will help the sheriff's office fund work on mental health outreach and provide the opportunity to shift additional resources to handling mental health calls outside of a traditional law enforcement response.

Department-by-department: What other projects have been funded?

  • Emergency Management: Nearly $9.5 million has been awarded to the county's Emergency Management department for two projects. Just over $5 million will go to the construction of a new emergency operations center. The county now leases storage space from Oklahoma City annually for the department and anticipates the new operations center eliminating that cost. An additional $4.4 million was awarded for upgrades to the radio systems used by first responders across Oklahoma County.

Related:Oklahoma County invests $4.4 million in communications improvements for first responders

  • Jail: The Oklahoma County jail has had 14 items it submitted to the board approved for coronavirus relief funding so far. That number includes more than $3.1 million for upgrades, repairs and replacement of the facility's heat and air system, roof, cameras and loading docks. Additionally, reimbursements totaling nearly $600,000 have been approved for a quarantine pod, COVID-19 testing, supplies and deep cleaning, a full-body scanner and fingerprinting equipment.

  • Juvenile Bureau: Six approved projects totaling nearly $3 million include construction costs for repairs, replacements and completion of the department's buildings, including a new roof on the juvenile justice center and replacement of the elevators. The department also is set to receive new vehicles for transport and field work and funding for programs related to violence intervention and "tele-mental health" access.

  • Engineering: The sole project funded for the Engineering Department so far is a $1 million allocation for construction costs related to renovating the front entrance of the county's annex.

  • Information Technology: The IT related allocations from the county currently include four items, including new "disaster recovery hardware" and a "secret server," as well as two digital security tools.

  • Benefits and Retirement: The department received over $320,000 in coronavirus relief funding to reimburse COVID-19 medical claims.

  • Social Services: Over $64,000 has been approved for items requested by the Social Services department. That includes about $2,200 in reimbursements for cremation for COVID-19 related deaths, with the remainder funding a Homeless Navigator position. That position is designed to offer additional support to staff who work with the county's homeless population.

The allocation of funding to these projects leaves the county with more than $124 million remaining in coronavirus relief funds. Allocation of funds must be completed by the end of 2024 and funding must be spent by the end of 2026, according to guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Oklahoma County is spending its $154 million in ARPA funds