ODESSA, Texas — Ector County has already received half of it's funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. In May, the county received $16.5 million, and it's set to get another $16.5 million in 2022. The question now becomes how will the county distribute those funds.
To do that, the county commissioner's court is holding a meeting on August 24 at 10 a.m. where all of that will be discussed.
Ector County Judge Debi Hays said that this money could positively impact a lot of people, and she wants to help as many people as possible.
"I don't wanna leave anybody out," Hays said. "I don't really wanna leave anybody out that has an opportunity to come and plead their case when they need help because there are a lot of entities that have the ability to receive help that a small business doesn't."
While the county does have an idea of where some of the money will go, such as $1 million going to upgrading the courtrooms at the courthouse in order to hold virtual trials, the rest is still up in the air.
"At the last commissioner's court meeting it was decided and voted on unanimously for the county to pay itself back $4.5 million in lost revenue, and of course, that benefits everyone because then that keeps us from having to raise the tax rate which affects everyone after coming off of COVID," Hays said.
Hays expects a lot of different organizations to make their case for this funding. She said that everyone will be given an equal opportunity.
"One of the things that we'll look at tomorrow during commissioner's court is all of the entities, including other county departments, that are in need of funds to be able to cope with the increase in cases and ongoing COVID," Hays said.
As far as who will actually qualify for the funding, it boils down to a few points.
"Until we hear what all the needs are and what the process of how much money does each entity need and then how much money do we have, who has access to funds through a different avenue and which entities have no means to survive," Hays said.