COVID-19 Relief & Budgets

Setting the county budget is the most important thing the Quorum Court does. COVID-19 has created new challenges and opportunities for our revenue and spending.

Valuing Our Workforce

In 2024, we are looking at putting all county employees on a Step Plan. Currently, only the Road Department and Sheriff's Department are on step plans, leaving it to the whims of the annual budget process to determine raises for the rest of the county employees from one year to the next. I believe putting the entire county workforce on one plan makes sense and is fair.

2021 saw the first major adjustment of employees' pay grades since 2016. Smaller adjustments followed in 2022 and 2023. However, too many workers are still behind the curve compared to similar jobs in the private sector. We've seen repeatedly how this is leading to employee turnover. We are losing valuable people. High turnover has the potential to negatively impact everything from the road department to the court system.

Let's take care of our county employees. Our rank-and-file workers deserve a fair and decent wage for their hard work.

Using COVID-19 Money for Community Relief

During the pandemic, Washington County received from the federal government:

• $46 Million from the American Rescue Plan Act (2021 & 2022)
• $12 Million in Emergency Rental Assistance (January 2021, July 2021 & February 2022) 
• $4.5 Million from the CARES Act (November 2020)

The deadline for obligating this money is December 31, 2024. I believe we should use this federal money the way it was intended - to invest in the community.

The American Rescue Plan Act

Federal rules explicitly forbid the county from using COVID relief money on jail expansion. Those Treasury Department rules were put in place after Alabama tried to use its COVID relief funds for new prisons. Alabama is now using a less restricted funding source. Despite the ban, the Quorum Court voted to spend nearly half of our American Rescue Plan money to expand the jail. The issue is now the subject of a federal lawsuit. And it could put the county at financial risk of repaying tens of millions of dollars to the feds down the road. There are alternatives - Washington County could either find a different funding source, change the scope and cost of the project, or move forward with long-delayed reforms. But gambling with your tax dollars is irresponsible.

Other counties across the nation have used their ARPA funds on things like rural broadband, job training, affordable housing, and supporting small businesses. Learn more from the National Association of Counties about how other counties are using ARPA funds to invest in their communities.

The CARES Act

The majority of JPs at the time also refused to use the $4.5 Million in CARES Act money to benefit the community. In early 2021, they shot down a proposal to use some of it for food relief, homelessness, and small business assistance. A few months later, in August 2021, they voted to move the vast majority of it - $3.4 Million - into the General Fund Reserve. It's now mixed in with the rest of the county's money, and its future spending will be difficult to track.

Emergency Rental Assistance

In late January 2022, the county attorney revealed to JPs that the Emergency Rental Assistance program had run out of money before being replenished. I brought forward an ordinance to fill this gap by using about $1.2 Million in American Rescue Plan funds. That way, families facing a health crisis didn't have to worry about losing their homes. Unfortunately, the measure failed.

There are so many important things we can do with these dollars to help recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. New and expanded affordable childcare, food relief, expanded broadband access in rural areas, affordable housing, and diversionary programs proven to safely relieve our overcrowded jail. These are just a few of the impactful ways these millions of dollars can be used.