KC got $30 million in CARES Act from Clay and Jackson counties. And from Platte: none
Kansas City, which makes up 48% of Platte County’s population, has not received a penny of federal coronavirus funds from the Platte County Commission, even though barely more than a month remains until the money has to be spent.
Platte County commissioners voted Nov. 2 to establish a grant program to take applications from cities and other political subdivisions to receive funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Platte County received $12.2 million in CARES Act funds, which was part of a larger $2 trillion stimulus program passed by Congress in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Platte County Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber said about $11 million remains after making grants to small businesses in the county.
Other counties in the Kansas City area made funds available to cities earlier in the year, including $18.8 million from Jackson County and $11.7 million from Clay County.
That gave Kansas City time to recover costs eligible under the CARES Act, which generally includes unexpected costs that it took on during the coronavirus response, such as overtime, testing and personal protective equipment.
On July 16, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas requested a reimbursement of $2.4 million from Platte County for health, public safety and emergency expenses the city expected to take on through the end of the year.
Schieber said the Platte County Commission turned down the request because he said there was no accountability in the framework of the request to ensure money was spent in Platte County.
“So we declined and we said we are going to have an application process,” Schieber said.
The Kansas City Fire Department has submitted a $1.2 million request, according to Platte County Commissioner Dagmar Wood.
The late-in-year application process could pose a challenge: Cities and counties have until Dec. 30 to spend CARES Act funds and anything left over is returned to the U.S. Treasury.
“The funds have been around for quite a few months so that’s less than ideal, but we have now submitted our application pursuant to that form,” Lucas said in an interview. “After a while I just hope we can see some level of action. We have done everything that’s been asked of us to make sure that our population in Platte County gets the COVID-19 testing, that gets the emergency responses they deserve.”
The process also illustrates the somewhat unique challenge facing Kansas City in accessing CARES Act funds.
Cities, generally speaking, with more than 500,000 residents received CARES Act funding directly from the U.S. Treasury.
Kansas City barely missed that threshold with about 495,000 residents. So instead Kansas City is in the position of requesting allocations from three of the four counties its expansive city limits stretch into.
Kansas City has received a combined $30.5 million in CARES Act funds from Clay and Jackson counties. St. Louis received $35 million in CARES Act funds directly from Missouri because it’s not part of any county. Its population is about 302,000, some 40% less than Kansas City.
Kansas City on Monday requested $6.2 million in additional CARES Act funds from Jackson County to cover personnel, police and fire response costs. Two Kansas City firefighters have died from complications of the coronavirus that they contracted while on their jobs.
“At this point, the County does not anticipate allocating any additional dollars to the cities or the school districts,” Jackson County administrator Troy Schulte said in an email to Kansas City finance analyst Brandon Kowalke.
The response surprised some city officials who noticed that Jackson County’s online dashboard showed only $53.6 million in CARES Act money had been spent and $96.4 had been budgeted. That suggested that some $26 million remained of the county’s $122 million in CARES Act funds.
Schulte said the online dashboard underreported expenditures.
Of the $122 million for Jackson County about a third — $40 million — was given to cities. Another third went to safety net organizations, with Truman Medical Center getting the most at $32 million. The final third went to a smattering of sources, including eviction and foreclosure relief, school districts, libraries and the Kansas City and Jackson County election boards.
Schulte also said the Jackson County Legislature at its Monday meeting will vote on resolutions to approve the remaining CARES Act funds. Those resolutions include money for testing inmates and staff at the county jail and for payroll costs at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Independence Mayor Eileen Weir said there had been confusion about how much CARES Act money was left and what the county planned to do with it. Independence requested $23 million in CARES Act funds and received $7 million.
“The money could be used in a lot of good ways, I would just like to know what the plan is because we haven’t gotten any clear answer on that,” Weir said. “It keeps shifting.”
Schulte said he’s tried to be transparent with cities about how the county is going to spend CARES Act funds.
“I think the cities said give it to us, we’ll spend it,” Schulte said. “The county was of the opinion we have to make sure we have to hit these countywide projects.”
Lee’s Summit Mayor Bill Baird said communication between cities and the county on CARES Act funds have been difficult at times.
“It’s been a long year as far as the communication and collaboration,” Baird said. “It’s been tough for everyone”
