Two new additions to the Highland County Jobs and Family Services (HCJFS) Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC) plan were approved at the Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.
Jeremy Ratcliff, HCJFS director, said the first program would be for people that are 200 percent below the federal poverty guidelines and have been affected by COVID-19, which he said could be a positive test, quarantine, school closing, additional expenses or items of that nature. He said they would qualify for a base $250 payment and $50 per child for a maximum payment of $500.
Ratcliff said the second program was a way to help “supplement” OWFI Works First people by giving $150 a month for eligible recipients. He said most of these people aren’t adults, but children that need cash assistance.
Ratcliff said the money was from the COVID-19 stimulus money the federal government released to the county last May that was expected to be expended and liquidated by Sept. 30, 2022. He said the total funding amount is around $187,000.
“We all know folks that have been affected by COVID, right? If you’re part of the working class and you have an unexpected expense or childcare or school closing because of quarantines,” Ratcliff said. “Not everybody’s fortunate enough to have vacation days or sick days that they can take off so we thought this was just a really kind of unique opportunity for us to kind of help bridge that gap for some of those families in our community.”
In other news, Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley said that this will be the first year that citizens of Hillsboro will pay directly to the Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District, which would be added to residents’ tax bills.
Fawley also said there were major increases in housing values in Hillsboro thanks to the housing market boom.
Commissioner Dave Daniels said that the state has some say in the increase and that the state gives the county some indication of where they want the rates set.
In other news, Commission president Jeff Duncan said the board approved a right of way dedication for the Fairfield Local Schools, which received money to extend its sidewalk down through the Industrial Park to hook onto it and run it to the front of the school building.
In other news, there were nine resolutions approved by the board of commissioners, which are as follows:
* Res. No. 22-22 is an establishment from the commissioners for a time and date for the hearing for an annexation filed by the city of Hillsboro on April 6 at 9:30 a.m. in the commissioners offices.
* Res. No. 22-23 is a determination that some item(s) were no longer needed for public use, are obsolete and/or unfit for the use for which the items were acquired. It was determined that the property may be donated to a nonprofit organization and donated the same to the Highland County Peace Officers Association.
* Res. No. 22-24 is an authorization for the establishment of a new workforce development center.
* Res. No. 22-25 is an authorization for a request for an additional appropriation from unanticipated revenue to County Court Telephone in the amount of $296.
* Res. No. 22-26 is an authorization for a request for reimbursement of funds from the Child Support Enforcement Fund to Public Assistance in the amount of $32,941 for August through December.
* Res. No. 22-27 is a request from HCJFS for an inter-county agreement to assign authority to Ratcliff to accept and release funds per adjustments and allocations for calendar year 2022.
* Res. No. 22-28 is an authorization for the county engineer to purchase one new 2022 John Deere 624P Wheel Loader to not exceed a total of $183,896.
* Res. No. 22-29 is an authorization for a modification from Transfers Out to the Humane Society – Other Expenses in the amount of $95.
* Res No. 22-30 is an authorization for a contractual agreement for the PY20 CDBG project for the Tornado Siren Replacement from the Federal Signal Corporation for $72,144.
There were also four contracts approved by the board of commissioners:
* Contract 11 is between HCJFS and the board of commissioners for the PRC Plan effective on Oct. 1, 2021.
* Contract 12 is between the board of commissioners and Bricker and Eckler LLP for counsel on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and its funding.
* Contract 13 is between the board of commissioners and the Highland County Airport for the Airport Rescue Grant Offer.
* Contract 14 is between the board of commissioners and the Village of Greenfield for an agreement for indigent counsel.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
