City, county to receive combined $1 million in COVID relief

Donley County and the City of Clarendon will soon be getting more than $1 million in combined COVID-19 relief funds, although officials are not yet sure how the money can be used.

Judge John Howard said the county has been notified by the US Treasury Department that it will receive up to $635,000 from the American Recovery Plan Act. Half of the money will be received in May with the second half received in May 2022.

“We don’t have guidance yet,” Howard said. “It is not for salaries, and it cannot be used to lower the tax rate. We know that. It has to be COVID-related and it does include some infrastructure projects.”

Howard said the county will likely put the money is a separate bank account like it did with the CARES Act funds received previously and then adopt a supplemental budget that will cover just those funds.

Money that is unspent will be taken back by the federal government, Howard said.

Clarendon City Administrator David Dockery said the city will be getting $390,000, but they are also waiting to hear just how the funds can be spent.

“We know it can be spent on certain infrastructure – water, waste water, and broadband internet, but we don’t know all the details,” Dockery said.

“It can also be spent for ‘COVID-related costs,’ but we don’t know what that includes yet,” the administrator said.

Like the county, the city also expects its first check to come in May with the remainder to come a year later. The city and the county both have until May 2024 to expend the funds.

“We haven’t seen a dime yet,” Dockery said, “and we just don’t have enough info yet to really say what we might do with the money once it gets here.”