County Commission Approves Funding Plan for Tire Event

On May 24, 2022, the Saline County Commission approved $20,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to be used for an event hosted by the Saline County Farm Bureau which dealt with the collection and disposal of waste tires. The event held in August 2022 resulted in costs to the county around $6,697.71. An addendum was approved on April 4, 2023, permitting the Farm Bureau to hold another tire disposal event. This addendum reduced the total fund amount to $16,268.01 considering the $3,731.99 contributed by the County for a previous waste tire disposal event hosted by the North Salina Community Development. This left the remaining $9,570.30 for the second event by the Farm Bureau, 42.9 percent more than the cost of the August 2022 function. However, the second waste tire disposal event, held on August 19, 2023, faced higher costs due to the substantial increase in collected tire tonnage. The final costs amounted to $20,987.14, exceeding the remaining ARPA fund limit. Consequently, on September 14, the Farm Bureau requested the County to fund the extra costs associated with the event. Staff has suggested that Farm Bureau bears the cost of $7.93 for ice and water, which were procured from an out-of-county business instead of utilizing resources from the County's Road & Bridge department. They propose covering the remaining $11,408.91 through a various allocation of funds: $2,400 from unspent ARPA intended for Surface Transportation $632.01 savings in ARPA for an employee development project $3.25 savings in ARPA for disaster kits $0.42 savings in ARPA for an internship $0.08 savings in ARPA for an employee inflation adjustment $3,035.76 from miscellaneous savings in ARPA $8,373.15 from the Road & Bridge Gravel Road Upgrade line. This recommendation draws on the constraints of ARPA funds and former project plans. Road & Bridge are also likely to cover the costs of any tire disposals from County rights-of-way, and they have previously indicated availability of unspent funds for year-end. The proposed action would see a total expenditure of $12,606.06 in ARPA funds, unaccounted for in the state law budget, and $8,373.15 from the Road & Bridge Fund which are budgeted in 2023. The Commission approved the motion 5-0.