Reversing himself, Frank White proposes writing lump sum CARES Act checks to cities
Frustrated by the county legislature’s decision to ignore his suggestions on how best to spend federal COVID-19 aid dollars, Jackson County Executive Frank White issued a new proposal Monday whose chances of passing are uncertain.
White recommends splitting half of the county’s $123 million in CARES Act money with the county’s 19 municipalities and unincorporated areas based on population, which is at odds with his previous position.
As $42 million of the total has already been spent, the vast majority of it going to Truman Medical Centers, that would leave very little left for legislators to allocate, were a majority of the body’s nine members to go along with White’s proposal.
Saying she is also frustrated in her dealings with White, Theresa Galvin, the legislature’s chairwoman, wasn’t willing to predict the chances of that happening.
“I don’t know what his intent is,” she said, adding that White “didn’t give me the respect” of discussing his proposal before issuing a late-afternoon press release.
Under White’s plan, Kansas City would get $27.6 million in a lump sum, rather than have to request reimbursement one line-item at a time — the current system — for things like coronavirus testing, contact tracing and personal protective equipment.
At $10 million, Independence would get the next biggest share and so on right on down to the check for $523.48 that White proposes writing to the city of Pleasant Hill, most of which is in Cass County.
The $500-plus would be the share for that city’s residents who live in the small sliver of Pleasant Hill that is in Jackson County.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has for many weeks pleaded with Jackson County to hand over a full, proportional share of the CARES Act allocation, based on the portion of the city’s population living in Jackson County.
Kansas City did not qualify for direct funding from the federal government because its population fell shy of the 500,000-resident threshold. Jackson County did make the cut.
Until now, White had opposed writing Kansas City and other local cities a check based on population. His administration claimed that would be irresponsible, as the county might have to repay the federal government if any of those funds were misspent.
“For the county to receive these funds, I had to sign my name and promise that the funds would be used appropriately,” White said in a prepared statement. “At the time, I was hopeful that Jackson County had come far enough to be able to distribute these funds appropriately and in the best interest of the county.”
He and County Administrator Troy Schulte set a policy whereby cities would be reimbursed for their COVID-19 costs. Through the spring, White proposed a series of CARES Act expenditures associated with the pandemic, such as personal protective equipment for public safety personnel who work for the county and its municipalities.
Among the largest expenditures early on was $4.3 million for Truman Medical Centers, the local public hospital system.
But White bristled a few weeks ago when the County Legislature cut the $5 million he proposed to spend on contact tracing efforts at the county health department. Legislators only approved $1.5 million.
The legislature also refused to fully fund the $11.7 million that the Kansas City Health Department requested, he said.
He scolded legislators last Wednesday when they decided without his approval to give Truman Medical Centers another $27 million and then refused to support creation of a citizens advisory board headed by former Kansas City Mayor Sly James, which would have made suggestions on how to spend the CARES Act money.
He said then that the legislature was being disrespectful to him and his administration and in a news release on Monday called the lack of support for an advisory group politically motivated.
But he conceded that “the ultimate decision on how much funding is made available and who received it, will be up to the legislature.”
