The Ector County Commissioners is expected to discuss selecting a firm Tuesday that would vet the applications of those seeking ARPA funding and help audit their expenditures.
The county commissioners voted 5-0 in September to hire a grant administrator because they fear if the county distributes funds to any organization that doesn’t qualify under the American Rescue Plan Act’s 400-pages of guidelines the taxpayers will have to pay it back.
County Judge Debi Hays has said hiring a firm would be less expensive than hiring additional county staff to perform the tasks.
The county can spend $250,000-$275,000 annually for the next four years to hire additional county staff to vet the applications and conduct audits or it can spend that amount or less to hire a firm that actually has experience dealing with natural disasters and the federal treasury, Hays said.
People don’t realize just how few employees work in the county’s purchasing and auditing departments and are responsible for handling the county’s $85 million annual budget, Hays said. They also don’t understand how much of a burden the $32 million in ARPA funding would be on those employees.
In other matters, the commissioners are expected to discuss the resignation of Monnie Sparkman from the Ector County/Odessa Schlemeyer Airport board, the possible appointment of David Dunham to the board and allowing the president of the airport to assume the responsibility of the airport manager.
