Members vote no on relief guidance

By LOUIS MELLINI
Staff Writer

HAMILTON - Marion County commissioners chose not to use 6% of its $5.7 million in American Rescue Plan monies to pay the Alabama County Commission Association (ACCA) for legal and administrative aid on how the funds can be used.
By doing so, the commission will not be using  $346,294 to participate in the ACCA’s Investing in Alabama Counties (IAC) program, which will help participating counties plan and spend the Rescue funds.

The IAC will provide its participants with engineers, architects and attorneys to provide legal and professional opinions to navigate guidelines handed down by the U.S. Treasury on how the federal money can be used. Rescue Plan will also be liable to federal audits.
Rescue Plan funds have been distributed through the act in an effort to remedy the mismatch between rising costs and falling revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic.