Luzerne County American Rescue requests far surpass available funding

Based on initial applications, requests for Luzerne County’s federal American Rescue Plan funding far exceed the $96 million available for council earmarks.

In total, 140 applicants are seeking $219.95 million, Robin Booth, head of Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting, told council during an initial presentation Tuesday night.

An additional $17.9 million in requests were submitted from within county government departments, said Booth, who was retained by the county to ensure applicants meet federal protocols and auditing guidelines.

Booth stressed her company is still completing the initial stage of screening applications to verify all required information has been submitted. Thirty-two of the 140 outside applicants have until the end of the month, or Friday, to supply additional documents, she said.

The next stage is a more involved eligibility, risk and budget assessment of each request that Booth aims to complete between Oct. 1 and Oct. 10.

Booth Management will then forward a complete report to the county for its evaluation and selection. Council has not yet decided if it will make the selections or seek input from the administration.

A target deadline of Oct. 31 has been suggested for council to make a decision so entities receiving funding can be notified the first week of November and advance their projects and programs, Booth said.

In the final stage, grants would be executed Nov. 8 through Dec. 5, with Booth furnishing the county law office with templates of contracts required to enact formal agreements with recipients.

To comply with federal requirements, county selections must be merit-based using consistent evaluation factors, Booth said.

County evaluators — whether council members or the administration — must use a scoring system in the evaluation process, Booth said. Those involved in the scoring must “know the rules” because there are a lot of factors involved, and the process can be “overwhelming” for those who haven’t previously performed evaluations for federal funding, she said.

All American Rescue funding must be spent by the end of 2026. However, some counties and local governments are requiring recipients to complete their projects by mid-2024 to ensure the deadline is met and allow time to choose replacements if approved projects fall through, Booth has said.

Booth provided a breakdown of the 140 applicants and the totals requested in each group.

Forty municipalities are seeking $90.2 million, followed by 54 nonprofits designated as 501(c)(3) collectively asking for $46.2 million.

Nine other nonprofits have applied for $26 million, while there are $22.6 million in requests from eight municipal authorities.

The remaining outside requests include $20 million from a government/public school district, $600,000 from a blight-targeting land bank, $8.8 million from two state municipal authorities and $3.8 million from 22 small businesses.

County officials have said applications will be released after eligibility screening is completed.

To help with whittling down selections, Booth advised council to set caps that will be awarded in different categories or “buckets.”

The 140 outside requests include these general categories, Booth said:

• Social infrastructure/neighborhoods, $59.3 million

• Local economic recovery, $47.4 million

• Community wellness, mental health and violence prevention, $39.9 million

• Arts, culture and educational institutions, $12.6 million

• Housing affordability, $2.1 million

• Early childhood development, $1,2 million

Council already has earmarked $16.6 million of the county’s $112.89 million in American Rescue funds for projects, which is why $96 million is remaining.

While most of the awards must fall under the federal categories, council has discretion to spend approximately $8.9 million of the American Rescue funding for any purposes because it is deemed “lost revenue,” officials said. Council has already earmarked $5.3 million from this flexible pot, leaving about $3 million.

Councilman Brian Thornton proposed Tuesday the county use this remaining $3 million to fix county-owned roads and bridges.

Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo pitched an idea to use $10 million of the remaining $96 million to provide some type of relief program for property owners.

Employee ceremony

County officials honored 13 employees with 40 or more years of service during a ceremony in the courthouse rotunda before Tuesday’s meeting.

The workers honored: Ann Marie Braskey, Ann Marie Coughlin, Christina Kleckner, Michael J. Beckley, Catherine A. Hilsher, Linda Sorber, Joseph P. Cotter, Joseph J. Yeager, Michael J. Dessoye, John Leighton, Nancy E. Gaughan, Vincent Alessandri and Kristyn C. Tokash.

County Manager Randy Robertson, county Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough and council Chairwoman Kendra Radle spoke during the event.

Judge Vough said 10 of the employees work in the court system and noted the 13 employees collectively had nearly 500 years of service.