County receives funding based on amount of federal land
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Photo by Derek Dobbs Drone Photography
“The funding will go to benefit the citizens of McCreary County, and overall, help provide better services,” McCreary County Judge Executive Jimmie “Bevo” Green said when announcing that McCreary County has received $709,869.98 of Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) dollars for the FY 2022. McCreary County is eligible for the same amount of funding in FY 2023.
LATCF dollars are funded under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and payment of the funding is based on the amount of federal property within each county, as defined by the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program and the Refuge Revenue Sharing program under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Population levels and various economic conditions such as historic poverty levels, unemployment, etc. are also figured into the final calculations. The Treasury set an annual minimum payment of $50,000 and a maximum of $6 million per county with an overall payment cap of $300 per resident.
ARPA has declared that LATCF funds are available “for any governmental purpose other than a lobbying activity.” These funds can be treated like general revenue funds or PILT payments. Examples of eligible uses include economic development, affordable housing, transportation infrastructure, and emergency services. Federal prevailing wage rate requirements will not apply to projects funded by LATCF, except for construction projects in Washington, D. C.
Judge Greene said no specific plans have been made about how to spend the funding, yet.
“We don’t have any specific plans right now,” Judge Greene said. “However, we will be diligent and good stewards of public dollars.”
Seventy-two counties in Kentucky are eligible for the funding. Since McCreary County has such a large amount of federal land within its boundaries, it is not totally surprising that the County received the most funding at $709,869.98 followed by Clay County ($306,675.38), Trigg County ($283,282.98), Rowan County ($258,719.50), Laurel County ($253, 911.53), Pulaski County (250,902.05), Jackson County ($238,964.04), and Leslie County ($225,303.47). The remaining 64 counties received less than $190,000 in funding.
