Bosque Farms to spend ARPA fund

BOSQUE FARMS — One municipality is grappling with how to best use almost $200,000 in leftover federal funding.

At the Jan. 18 Bosque Farms Village Council meeting, Village Clerk/Administrator Michael Limon told councilors there was still $188,000 from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act, which was enacted to help communities recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m asking to reallocate that funding to employee salaries,” Limon said.

The plan was to provide a one-time premium payment to all village employees in the hopes of “keeping up moral. It’s a good incentive and guarantee from the village. I understand many parts of the municipality are rebuilding and we want to do this on an act of faith for the employees,” he said.

Councilor Erica DeSmet asked if more senior employees would get a higher amount, saying while she agreed it would be good for morale long-term employees might question why they were getting the same amount as new employees.

Village Treasurer Yvonne Maes said the last two times the village has done premium payments, flat payments were issued with the only difference being between full-time and part-time employees. She noted there didn’t seem to be any complaints from the employees.

Noting the village had several infrastructure projects needing completion, Councilor Tim Baughman felt it would also be appropriate to hold some of the ARPA funding for that use.

Limon told the council he would reach out to federal authorities to see how other municipalities handled the redistribution of the funds and whether the premium pay needed to be done as flat payments.

The council voted unanimously to postpone action on the redistribution of the funds until its Feb. 16 meeting, but there still wasn’t a clear answer by then.

Limon said he reached out to the state about redistributing the funds for premium pay and federal level representatives, but was getting conflicting answers from the federal employees. Noting the people he spoke to “don’t hold rank and title,” the clerk/administrator said one federal employee told him the funds would have to be sent back while the other said there was a cap on how much each employee could receive but couldn’t say what the cap was.

“We don’t want the employees to have to pay this back in taxes, since the premium pay is a way to thank them for their time with the village,” Limon said. He continued, saying he would keep pressing for clarification and hoped to have answers by the council’s March meeting.

Baughman asked if he was still looking at using part of the funding for infrastructure needs in the village. Limon said he was asking to see if the funds could be used for another purpose other than what they were dedicated for originally, as well as whether the premium pay can be based on employee tenure.

In the time since the January meeting, DeSmet said she had given a lot of thought to the possible use of the $188,00 in ARPA funds.

“As I thought about, do we want employees to have a lump sum payment — and I would whole-heartedly love to see that happen — however, as a councilor, my responsibility to this village includes employees and everyone who lives here,” Councilor DeSmet said. “We have failing infrastructure, failing roads.”

She said there were also equipment needs in the fire department, as well as the need to re-establish a village EMS department.

DeSmet proposed using $88,000 for premium payments to the employees and $100,000 for infrastructure projects in the village.

“I would hate to see these funds not be used but they need to be appropriated differently than they currently are,” she said. “I won’t sit idly by and watch failing infrastructure.”

Baughman agreed, saying the list of infrastructure needs was long.

“Keep pushing and get a hold of someone. Keep going,” he said to Limon.

The clerk/administrator agreed, saying the village is in the process of rebuilding across the board.

“Bosque Farms has needs across the board ... if you look at plans from 2023, in the comprehensive plan the No. 1 priority is a pool but the (Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan) had a clarifier and arsenic (treatment),” he said. “Bosque Farms has not known its priorities for the last four years.”

Limon said he was working to find outside resources to fund needs, but seeing the struggles of staff on a daily basis was the reason he felt the premium pay was the most important priority at the moment.

“If it were to please council, I’m willing to not take a pay increase for my first two years. If I have to not take premium pay to make sure employees have a fair, equitable share, I will do that,” he said. “I am working on a salary schedule I’m hoping to present before the budget. Staff is the third lowest paid in the state and I’m not comfortable with that.

“If you want quality roads, quality procurements, we need equipment and staff, and we can’t do that without wages,” he said. “I will happily pursue this to see if the funding can be reallocated.”

Limon said the village had until December of 2026 to spend the funds and asked action be postponed until the April meeting, which the council approved unanimously.