Johnson County will now have over $4.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to reallocate after it cut funding to certain programs. 

The amount was presented by staff during the county’s weekly Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday morning. 

According to the agenda packet for the meeting, the following projects were cut or scaled down: 

• An abandoned building at 821 S Clinton St. project, which was not feasible on the county’s ARPA timeline
• A Capitol and Prentiss St. project that will be reduced to demolition
• Reducing three new grant programs to being on one cycle
• Eliminating discounted fares due to lack of interested partners

The American Rescue Plan Act is a $1.9 trillion relief package intended to help U.S. communities financially harmed by the pandemic. Johnson County, with a population of roughly 150,000 residents, received $29.3 million in 2021.

The change comes after a Jan. 11 work session meeting in which the supervisors instructed the county’s ARPA staff to “present ARPA funds that are available for re-appropriation,” according to today’s agenda packet.

During the meeting, county staff also presented recommendations on projects that the reallocated the money could go to. They advised putting the money towards current projects that are shovel ready.

Some recommendations for where to allocate the money included “building adaptations” for the county administration building, expanding existing programs and grants, and expanding translation services in the county.

Staff said the money could also go towards the general fund for fiscal 2024 and beyond.