Luzerne County government eyeing small business aid

Luzerne County’s administration is working on a proposal to use some of the county’s $113 million American Rescue Plan allocation to provide funding to small businesses.

The county’s economy depends on small businesses, and many of them are struggling due to staffing, inflation and continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo told council last week.

“We’d like to roll out the small business program to council first so the money can get into the hands of business owners,” Crocamo said.

The administration expects to present the small business proposal at council’s next meeting on Jan. 25, Crocamo said.

It will be modeled after the county’s previous small business assistance program offered last year through a different federal recovery funding source — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, she said.

The county had kept $11.8 million of its $28.66 million in CARES Act funding to cover expenses but allocated the rest to small businesses and other entities.

More than 679 county small businesses received grants in that program.

Regional economic development organization Penn’s Northeast helped to administer the small business program for the county, with assistance from the Community First Fund. An online portal was set up to accept applications.

Council vote

Council and the administration had postponed decisions on major expenditures from the American Rescue funding until the release of final federal rules detailing allowable projects and purchases. Those rules were released Jan. 6.

To date, council members have only approved the use of $924,000 to cover this year’s county’s public transportation matches.

The county does not have to commit to an American Rescue allocation plan until the end of 2024 and has until the end of 2026 to spend the money. It received $56.4 million, but the other half is not expected to arrive until May, officials have said.

In addition to small business assistance, possible funding uses discussed at county meetings have included stormwater projects and levee improvements .

County departments also have proposed projects, such as prison repairs and information technology upgrades.

There’s also a “lost revenue” category of American Rescue funds to cover government services.

County officials had conservatively estimated up to $6 million would be allowable for lost revenue.

However, the final federal rules now allow counties to use up to $10 million for the provision of government services without having to complete a “complicated revenue loss calculation,” Crocamo told council last week.

She briefed council on other changes that will provide more flexibility, saying the final American Rescue rules:

• Allow funds to be used for cybersecurity and computer hardware/software modernization and existing and new broadband infrastructure.

• Expand eligible uses for water and sewer projects to include culvert repair, dam and reservoir rehabilitation and stormwater infrastructure.

• Clarify how counties can spend the funds for certain capital expenditures to respond to public health and economic impacts.

• Streamline options to provide premium pay by broadening the share of eligible workers.

• Provide an expanded set of households and communities that are presumed to be impacted and disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, allowing the county to fund responsive services without additional analysis. Examples of programs now eligible for this population include: affordable housing, childcare and early learning and services to address learning loss during the pandemic. Certain community development and neighborhood revitalization projects also may qualify for funding in disproportionately impacted communities.

Describing the new rules as “voluminous,” Crocamo said the administration has been attending various webinars to firm up the county’s options.