ODESSA, Texas — The Ector County Commissioners' Court met Tuesday to discuss what the county should do with approximately $16 million they received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The funds come from the federal government to help relieve states and counties that have been affected by the coronavirus. Today's goal was to figure out where to put that money.
"So before we start our budget cycle next week, I thought it would be a really good idea to get together and have a workshop on how each of them felt on how the monies would best benefit our community as a whole or their precinct," Judge Debi Hays said.
In today's meeting it was mentioned the county lost approximately $4.5 million dollars in funds from the virus. The commissioners seemed to agree that some of the $16 million should be used for reimbursement.
"We should reimburse ourselves for that lost revenue because my ultimate goal is to not raise taxes," Hays said.
Some other ideas for how to use the funds were to expand the juvenile detention center, invest in the health department, improve septic and water systems and to expand the library, all COVID relief related.
Most commissioners also agreed about updating courtroom technology, so the courts can function efficiently during a pandemic.
"During COVID we were not able to hold hearings and in cases, so one of the things we've agreed on is to make those courtrooms more virtual, where we can have virtual hearings of virtual cases that we can do from the bottom to the top," Hays said.
Although nothing is set in stone, the commissioners used today's meeting to brainstorm some ideas that will likely be more concrete in the future.
The County will receive additional funds from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2022.