Luzerne County frees up $3.3 million due to reimbursement for coronavirus expenses

Thanks to federal stimulus reimbursement for some of last year’s coronavirus expenses, Luzerne County government now has a one-time windfall of approximately $3.3 million available.

County council members will decide where that money should be deposited, with discussion planned at their next meeting on Feb. 9.

Council Chairman Tim McGinley said he believes the funding primarily should be used to bolster the county’s dwindling capital fund so money is available to address future county infrastructure repairs and emergency work.

The county has approximately $1.34 million remaining in the capital fund that has not been earmarked for projects.

Another option for the funds is further boosting of the reserve, McGinley said.

The county has a $698,000 reserve to cover emergencies in this year’s $154.65 million general fund operating budget, which did not increase county real estate taxes.

Both options — the capital fund and reserve — would require council approval for the administration to spend the money, McGinley noted.

County Councilman Walter Griffith also suggested the possibility of using the money to pay off debt incurred to purchase the county’s voting system. Because debt repayments are spread out over years, county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz told Griffith a report will be generated on how much the county would save annually by retiring that portion.

Pedri said he recommends the capital fund and reserve options, noting council had deposited some past one-time revenue receipts into the capital fund. The money should not be applied to recurring general operating expenses because it won’t be available again, creating a deficit in future budget cycles, he said.

Funding summary

The county’s $28.66 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding had to be used for COVID-19 planning, preparation and response expenses incurred through the end 2020.

County officials ending up providing around $16.86 million, or nearly 59%, of this funding to outside entities, including small businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, ticketed venues, schools, chambers of commerce, veteran groups, public libraries and youth sports groups.

The county had planned to provide another $3.3 million to these outside entities but did not receive enough claims for allowable expenses to issue those payments, Pedri said. This stemmed largely from the federal government’s short window for eligible projects and supplies to be completed or procured, he said.

As a result, the county used the $3.3 million to obtain reimbursement for its staffing and supplies — something it had been willing to forego if the requests from outside entities had been higher and allowable, Pedri said.

He released a category breakdown of the $3.3 million in county expenses that were reimbursed as permitted under state Department of Community and Economic Development guidelines:

• Salaries for non-election county workers to assist in elections: $575,820

• COVID-19 sick leave and FMLA: $530,903

• A percentage of county first responders’ salaries, including county sheriff deputies and Emergency Management Agency personnel: $1,578,671

• Pandemic-related purchases: $695,509

In addition, the county used approximately $8.5 million in its CARES funding for projects, officials said.

Some of the larger projects included:

• An EMA mobile response command center and decontamination units to clean emergency vehicles

• Outside structures to socially distance visitors to the courthouse and central court

• County prison upgrades to create quarantine space and a polycom area to limit inmate transport to the courthouse

• Courtroom technology

• Storage facility to house PPE and other public service items

• Materials and supplies for testing sites

• Touchless access components for restroom facilities

• Upgrades to enhance online access to records and filing in various departments

Air purifiers and partitions or sneeze guards also were purchased in multiple departments.

Building and grounds purchased three disinfectant fogger machines for a total $8,800. Court administration used nearly $36,000 to rent space at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township for socially distanced criminal trials.

A 43-page report listing all recipients of the county funding is posted under the budget/finance department section at luzernecounty.org.