With most of the federal COVID-19 relief funds Cole County received now distributed, the largest portion of the money went to internal county government requests.
Cole County received $9,003,720 in federal funds last May to use for pandemic-related expenses. The county now has $159,006 remaining to use for county internal needs.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, gave political entities like counties money that could go toward necessary expenditures incurred from March 1 through Dec. 30. Federal guidance defined necessary COVID-19 expenditures to include direct emergency response, such as addressing medical or public health needs, as well as expenses related to addressing unemployment and businesses interruptions.
The Cole County Commission began distributing CARES Act money in August after hiring BKD, a Springfield accounting firm, to assist the county in meeting its obligations for purchases related to the pandemic.
BKD developed an application for assistance, evaluating the eligibility and risk assessments of entities that applied for funding. The firm was paid $285,000 out of CARES Act funds for its work.
Figures from the Cole County Auditor's Office show $3,945,694 was approved for internal county government needs, out of $6,188,414 in such requests - 43.8 percent of the county's total CARES Act funding.
The two largest amounts the commission approved for county government needs were $646,000 for salary reimbursement at the Cole County Health Department and $900,000 for salary reimbursement at Cole County Emergency Medical Services. Federal guidelines allowed for CARES Act money to be used to reimburse salaries for services providing direct care to the public during the pandemic.
Also receiving CARES Act money were medical or health care organizations, cities, nonprofit groups, public and private schools, and small businesses.
Medical and health care organizations received the next highest amount of CARES Act funds in the county, at $1,779,734 out of $3,555,394 in requests. There were several six-figure requests approved, but among the largest were $379,252 to Capital Region Medical Center and $223,642 to St. Mary's Hospital for COVID-19 testing expenses. Also approved was $328,893 for a 37-foot mobile testing unit/trailer for the Community Health Center of Central Missouri.
The third-highest amount of CARES Act funds in Cole County went to public and private schools. The commission approved $1,363,800 out of $1,753,156 in these requests.
Under CARES Act guidelines, the county could reimburse public schools; for private schools, the county paid directly for items the schools were approved for.
The largest school amounts approved were two requests from the Jefferson City School District - one for $241,682 and the other for $807,200 - to pay tuition for outsourced online curriculum.
Cities got the fourth-highest amount, receiving $1,240,882 out $17,551,598 in requests. The majority of the requests came from Jefferson City for payroll costs for staff such as police and fire fighters who provided direct care to the public during the pandemic. Out of their $17,344,160 requests, the commission approved $1,111,486.
Other municipalities in Cole County that received CARES Act funding included Centertown ($1,995) and Russellville ($6,985).
The Cole County Fire Protection District ($31,613) and Russellville-Lohman Fire Protection District ($12,503) also received funding.
For nonprofit groups, the commission approved $192,966 out of $270,743 in requests, after deciding the maximum amount a single nonprofit could receive was $25,000.
Several groups received the maximum $25,000, including the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce for rent and payroll, The Salvation Army to assist people in need, Lincoln University for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, the Jefferson City Area YMCA for cleaning supplies and safety equipment, and the Jefferson City Rape and Abuse Crisis Service for adaptations made to its facility due to the pandemic.
Commissioners made an exception for the United Way of Central Missouri, giving it $27,201. The agency distributed that money in grants to other agencies it serves.
Of the $142,800 in requests from small businesses, the commission approved $44,583, after deciding the maximum amount a single small business could receive was $5,000. Businesses receiving that amount included Sweet Smoke BBQ and Madison's Cafe for costs to implement online ordering and curbside pickup, as well as Missouri Electric Cooperatives LLC for distance learning training.
County commissioners said they think they did a good job distributing the CARES Act money in light of the large number of funding applications.
"I think we probably could have given some more money to Jefferson City, but we also had a hard time coming up with money for the hospitals," Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. "I'm glad we set aside money to help with salaries at the Health Department and EMS because we will be using those as we get into the vaccination process."
"We addressed the front-line workers, and that needed to be done," Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher said. "I know we ran the Health Department thin, and I'm glad we didn't lose any employees from there. I am worried about what will happen in the vaccination phase, and I hope we'll be able to help with that."
Western District Commissioner Harry Otto has only been in office for a few weeks but sat in on many commission meetings after being elected in November.
"I think the county should get more than a passing grade for how they handled this," Otto said. "They hired a professional firm, which kept them on track, and I think they advertised well enough to the community that the funds were available."