The Porter County Commissioners have approved a spending plan for federal COVID-19 response money. An ordinance ratifying plans for the county's $33 million dollars in American Rescue Plan funds was adopted Tuesday.
Auditor Vicki Urbanik says the ARPA steering committee and subcommittees considered more than 60 funding requests from both inside and outside of county government, during more than 80 hours of public meetings. "And the end result, I think most people will agree, is a spending plan that most people can be very proud of because there's a wide diversity of programs and services that are going to be improving the lives of Porter County residents," Urbanik said during Tuesday's meeting.
The ARPA plan includes funding for organizations like Project Neighbors, Porter-Starke Services and Opportunity Enterprises, among several others. More than $7 million is set aside for infrastructure upgrades, like storm water and flood reduction systems.
The spending plan will go to the county council for approval later this month. Then, the commissioners will have to approve a written agreement with each sub-recipient.