Stafford starts budgeting CARES Act funds, $514,000

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted to begin applying funds received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to various costs and expenditures at its recent meeting.

This first wave of funding will be applied to the fiscal year 2020 budget for costs relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the $13 million in CARES Act funding Stafford received, $514,000 has been budgeted to go into the general fund.

One of the expenditures that the first wave of funding will cover is $87,200 for Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities which would allow them the funding to reopen the parks. Fire and Rescue Services will also be receiving about $136,500 towards finances incurred from the pandemic.

The Board voted to use about $43,000 to support the county’s portion of funding for the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center. The county will also use $100,000 for a consultant to help with the reporting and direction of where the funding will go.

Money for economic development had originally been set aside in this wave but was pulled from the agenda and will be presented at a public hearing scheduled for July 7, along with other funding requests. The $450,000 that was planned to go for economic development was going to repay small business grants taken from the Economic Development Authority.

The original date for this hearing was June 16, but it was moved due to bylaws governing such business.

“Per the Board’s bylaws, the Board cannot take action on any new business until the subsequent meeting where it falls under unfinished business, unless it is deemed time sensitive,” stated Stafford County Community Engagement Program Director Andrew Spence.

Stafford County has put together a group of staff led by Deputy County Administrator Fred Presley to review and recommend the use of CARES Act funding.

The funding must be used to cover spending that was incurred during the pandemic. This would cover costs that weren’t previously accounted for and costs that covered measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus.

This group will help the county determine where the remaining funding will be used. Funding is limited, and the county has already gotten $15 million in requests.

The next waves of funding will use the remainder of the $13 million for eligible payroll costs in the fiscal year 2020 and 2021 budgets.