Westmoreland commissioners say deal reached for covid relief spending

An agreement on how to spend a portion of the $105.3 million in federal funds Westmoreland County was allocated as part of the government’s covid-relief efforts will remain under wraps for the next two weeks, commissioners said Thursday.

More than $52 million was banked last year from the American Rescue Plan and has mostly been untouched as public officials debate how the windfall should be used. A second allocation of nearly $53 million is expected this summer.

“We believe the first round of funding will have a major impact,” Westmoreland Commissioner Sean Kertes said.

A formal announcement outlining the plan will be made at the July 14 commissioners meeting.

The meeting will be held at Westmoreland County Community College before a county-sponsored human services fair that will be conducted at the school, Kertes said.

Commissioners on Thursday declined to make public any details of the county spending plan ahead of next month’s scheduled voting session.

“We’re still figuring out the final amount,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said. “We’ve been meeting with nonprofit agencies and discussing where there is need within the county.”

Thrasher said the initial allocations will be less than $50 million.

The American Rescue Plan represents a significant windfall for the county. Commissioners in December approved a $367 million 2022 budget for Westmoreland County that included spending just $3.5 million from the federal covid relief funds.

The county allocated about $1 million to pay salary increases and bonuses for staff for their work during the pandemic. Additional funds were set aside for poll workers on Election Day and purchases to upgrade technology used throughout county government and the 911 emergency dispatch system.

Officials allocated $7 million for demolition and reconstruction of the underground parking structure at the courthouse. That project began in April and is expected to be completed in October.

Reaching a consensus on spending priorities remained a hurdle for most of the year.

In April, Kertes pitched a plan that called for funding to be used to enhance county mental health services, small business grants, a sweeping effort to remove blight, redevelopment projects, installation of broadband in rural areas, funding for water and sewer projects, expansion of food bank services and an increase in the number of beds for homeless residents in area shelters.

He also proposed a program that would make down payments for residents who purchase formerly blighted properties.

Thrasher and Commissioner Doug Chew have yet to disclose their funding priorities.

That will come next month, they said.

“It’s going to be specific. That’s why we are taking our time,” Chew said.

Commissioners last fall held two public hearings to get community input for how to spend the American Rescue Program funds.

The county also conducted an online survey that received more than 800 responses in which more than half of those who participated listed infrastructure and public health programs as the top priorities for the covid relief funds.

The county is required to have a comprehensive spending plan for the money by the end of 2024. All funds are required to be spent by the end 2026.