Young County approves $125,000 in emergency funding for VFDs

The Young County Volunteer Fire Department will receive $125,000 to help in the remaining fiscal year. This comes at the request of Gabe Pratt, speaking on behalf of all five stations within the Young County VFD. Commissioners approved the funds during Monday’s Young County Commissioner’s Court Meeting.

The money will come from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds received by the county. ARPA provides funding for agriculture and nutrition programs, COVID-19 vaccinations, small business assistance, health care providers in rural areas, extended unemployment benefits and makes student loan forgiveness tax-free through 2025, along with other provisions. Four provisions within the act dictate how local governments may spend their allocated funding: respond to the COVID-19 emergency and address its economic effects, including through aid to households, small businesses, nonprofits, and industries such as tourism and hospitality; provide premium pay to essential employees or grants to their employers (premium pay could not exceed $13 per hour or $25,000 per worker); provide government services impacted by a revenue reduction resulting from COVID-19 and/or make investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

State and local governments cannot use the funds for pensions or offsetting revenue resulting from a tax cut enacted on March 3, 2021. State and local governments could transfer funds to private nonprofit groups, public benefit corporations involved in passenger or cargo transportation, and special-purpose units of state or local governments.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, May 25 edition of The Graham Leader.