Cole County Commission OKs more CARES Act requests

County has earmarked $263,939 of $9 million funding

The Cole County Commission approved more applications Thursday for distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funding.

Cole County received $9 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds in May and started accepting applications for portions of the funding this month, after hiring BKD, a Springfield accounting firm, to assist the county in meeting its obligations under the CARES Act for purchases related to the pandemic.

The majority of the funds approved Thursday were for expenses county offices have incurred during the pandemic. The commission had set aside $3.6 million of the $9 million in CARES Act money for internal county needs.

Items approved Thursday included $73,247 for 76 battery-powered pressurized respirators for the Cole County Emergency Medical Services, along with $6,083 for personal protective equipment storage bags for EMS and $19,728 for handheld disinfectant sprayers to be placed in the county's 13 ambulances.

Also approved Thursday was $7,200 for 148 acrylic desk shields for Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Jefferson City.

Under CARES Act guidelines, the county can reimburse public schools for COVID-19-related purchases; for private schools, the county must purchase items requested by the schools to qualify for the federal funds.

Funding for public and private schools made up the majority of the first application phase for CARES funds in Cole County at $1.5 million. The minimum amount an applying school could receive is $10,000. Schools may apply for as many items as they would like, as long as they stay within the amount set aside based on student population.

The County Commission began the approval process Aug. 19 and since then has approved a total of $263,939. That leaves $8,846,040 in available CARES Act money.

Commissioners are scheduled to look at more applications Tuesday.

County Auditor Kristen Berhost said it was the recommendation of BKD and the county's CARES Act working group that they allow schools to submit applications through the end of September instead of the original cutoff date of Aug. 31. Commissioners agreed with that recommendation.

The second CARES Act application phase is scheduled to begin around Sept. 3. The commission is considering making $2 million available for applications in this phase, with $1.8 million in contingency.

That still leaves $3.4 million in CARES Act funds that could be used for the ongoing application process.

The goal is to have funds earmarked by Nov. 30.