Just a month into 2021, the Pulaski County Council is already considering more than a million dollars in additional appropriations. Many of those are additionals that were approved last year but weren’t entirely spent before December 31.
Council members voted four-to-three last month to advertise almost $840,000 in requests for County Economic Development Income Tax revenues from Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer. Up to $630,000 of that is for architect’s fees for the courthouse and justice center projects. Another $70,000 would be for the projects’ legal counsel, along with $50,000 for remaining municipal advisor fees. All of those expenses could be reimbursed out of project bond revenues or paid from them directly, depending on timing.
Similarly, up to $18,000 would be allocated for the up-front cost of the economic impact analysis for the Mammoth Solar project. That money would only be spent if the project goes ahead and would ultimately be reimbursed by the developer. Nearly $72,000 would be made available for a proposed county workforce study.
In addition to the CEDIT money, the council will also consider whether to re-appropriate almost $48,000 in Riverboat Fund money for the county’s COVID-19 response that wasn’t spent last year. An additional appropriation of almost $185,000 from the General Fund would essentially give officials permission to spend the rest of the county’s share of CARES Act money.
All of those additional appropriations will be up for final approval on Monday.
