State Auditor Rob Sand (D-IA) made a stop in Clarion last week for a brief townhall meeting. He spoke outside at Gazebo Park where about ten city and county officials were gathered.
Sand invited questions from the group and the topic quickly turned to the American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID relief funds. Wright County will receive a total of $2.4 million with the individual towns in the county getting separate funds. Sand noted that he finds the opportunities that ARP offers superior to what the CARES Act funds allowed, because this plan puts more control in local hands.
When county officials told Sand that they are prioritizing using funds from ARP for childcare, he discussed different ways to go about that. He noted that if you can argue that something you want to spend funds on mitigates the spread of COVID, like a new HVAC system for a daycare or a larger building, it could be covered.
Sand continually emphasized that documentation is the key to being able to use the funds. “The more you document, the more you’ll qualify for,” he said and noted that expert input about how COVID plays into a project is always a good step.
The auditor also discussed some of his other priority areas. He explained the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program he started last year. According to the program’s website, it is “a framework to help State and local governments increase efficiency and communicate with the public about their efforts.” Sand noted that the program involves government entities like cities and counties completing checklists to promote efficiency and ultimately save taxpayers money. The goal is to also spread “PIE recipes” and share information with other entities about practices that have succeeded.
Sand wrapped up the meeting by noting that he has worked to make the Auditor’s office even more aggressive. He referenced an April Iowa Supreme Court decision in his office’s favor against the University of Iowa. Sand had sought information from the university on its plan to lease out its utility system for the next 50 years for lease payment of more than one billion dollars.
The auditor emphasized that powerful people and organizations should have to worry about accountability.
