Lauderdale County supervisors will have a much easier time spending the county’s allotment of American Rescue Plan Act money after an update to the rules eased restrictions.

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Final Rule for ARPA funds went into effect Friday. The rule update allows counties to spend up to $10 million in ARPA funds on projects outside of the four categories outlined in the previous interim rules.

Previously, the board had struggled to find projects eligible for the county’s $14.38 million ARPA allotment. Eligible uses under the previous interim rules included water and sewer projects, broadband infrastructure, mitigating COVID-19, premium pay for essential workers and replacing lost revenue.

In November, Mississippi Association of Supervisors Executive Director Derrick Surrette said Mississippi counties struggled to find ways to spend the money because many of the eligible uses weren’t projects counties were set up to do.

In a work session Thursday, supervisors discussed the rule change and how to handle the funds now that the first $10 million can be spent more easily.

County Administrator Chris Lafferty said his office was keeping the funds in a separate account from other money to make it easier to see what it was spent on. Two funds would be tied to the account, he said, with one containing the unrestricted $10 million and the other containing the $4.38 million still restricted.

“I think that it would be a good idea to keep it in its current fund, because we had to set up a checking account for it at the beginning just to be able to track it when we didn’t know what all it could be spent for,” he said.

Lafferty said it was also important to understand the county had not received its full ARPA allotment. The funds, he said, were split into two batches. Lauderdale County received about $7 million in May 2021, and the remainder of the funds are  supposed to arrive this May.

“So I look for in May, at some point, for us to get that other half,” he said.

Supervisors had previously agreed to spend about $124,000 of ARPA money to help the City of Meridian relocate a sewer main on Lizelia Road, but the remainder has not been allocated.

The board is also waiting to see what happens on the state level. Earlier this year, legislation was passed in the Senate to provide $750 million in matching funds for local infrastructure projects, and a multitude of ideas and bills have been shared throughout the legislative session.

ARPA funding, however, was sidelined by state legislators shortly after as they worked to reach compromises on a historic teacher pay raise, fought over income tax elimination and more.

On Tuesday, legislators extended their time in Jackson from April 3 to April 6 after debate caused negotiators to miss the deadline to file budget and tax bills for the year. The matching ARPA funds are among the issues left to resolve.

Once the state reaches a consensus on what it plans to do with its ARPA funds, Supervisor Kyle Rutledge said it might be wise for the board to consider a work session to talk though the county’s ARPA allotment and which projects it would be best to spend it on.

“Hopefully within two weeks we’ll know,” he said. “I hope they don’t kick it till the next year.”