County, state relief allocations from American Rescue Plan announced

LEESBURG — County and state governments across the nation will soon have a new assignment on their hands, one they won’t mind so much taking on: How to spend a large infusion of cash.

Federal relief allocations that are part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan will deliver $350 billion for eligible state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. Allocations were announced Thursday, and counties in the Albany Metropolitan Statistical Area will be dealing with what for most will be a welcome significant sum.

As Lee County Manager Christi Dockery put it Thursday, “Now we have to figure out what to do with $2.9 million that was deposited into our account this morning.”

The $2.9 million allocation in Lee County is half of the $5.8 million in relief funding that the county must spend by 2024. The governments will get the other half of their allocations after they’ve spent the first half, according to Lee County Commission Chairman Billy Mathis.

“All that hasn’t been figured out yet, but we got notice last night that the funds were allocated and we received the money in our account this morning,” Mathis said. “It’s not been specifically discussed what projects the funding will be used for in Lee County, but I suspect it will help fund some really specific infrastructure projects.”

Dockery said the first half of Lee’s allocation will be used for broadband and water projects in the county.

“We have a water project right now, expanding water lines for about a mile, that’s going to cost around $600,000,” she said. “We’re really excited about what we can do with this funding. It has the potential to have a huge impact on our community.”

The state of Georgia is due to receive $8.396 billion in relief allocations, with the state government due an infusion of $4.655 billion. A total of $2.07 billion is set to go to county governments in the state.

In metro Albany, Dougherty County will receive the lion’s share of local funding, getting $17.6 million in allocations. In addition to Lee’s $5.8 million, Mitchell County will receive $4.24 million, Worth County $3.93 million, Terrell County $1.65 million, and Baker County $590,000.

Dockery said the infusion of relief capital is coming at an opportune time for Lee County, which is set to have its bond rating reviewed again by Moody’s. The Lee County manager said that the county recently paid off all bond debt and is “hoping to get a AA+ rating.”

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