Tracking Porter County's ARPA Spending

This page details the expenditures of Porter County government's Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as the Porter County Auditor's internal controls used for tracking and reporting the expenditures. (This page is currently in progress. Check back later for updates.)

Part I. Auditor's Office Internal Controls

The Porter County Auditor's Office has the responsibility of processing all Fiscal Recovery Fund claims, ensuring that appropriations and supporting documentation are in proper order and are properly maintained, monitoring fund balances, preparing the annual Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and other GAAP-compliant financial statements, maintaining audit files, coordinating with and responding to audit examiners, and filing quarterly expenditure reports with the U.S. Treasury.

As with all county expenditures, internal controls are essential for compliance and accountability. Our office has made proper monitoring of the county's ARPA expenditures a top priority in order to ensure that the expenditures comply not only with the intent of the Biden Administration and the U.S. Congress but also with the objectives of county leadership and the requirements of state audit agencies.

Our "Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund Internal Controls" manual will be posted here in the near future. The manual outlines our commitment to full accountability and transparency of the county's ARPA spending as well as our processes and procedures monitoring and reporting the activity to U.S. Treasury. 


Part II. Tracking County Government's ARPA Expenditures

At the current time (December, 2021), the Porter County Commissioners have announced part 1 of their spending plan and are currently seeking public input. No ARPA appropriations or expenditures have been approved yet.

The following section details the county government's Fiscal Recovery Funds expenditures by individual project/program, along with a brief description and our analysis of how each project complies with Treasury's Interim Final Rule.


Memorial Opera House Upgrades

Expenditure Category:Aid to impacted industries, including tourism
Commissioners' Plan Amount:Up to $5,500,000
County Council Appropriation:TBD
Date of Appropriation:TBD
Amount Expended, to Date:N/A
Status: Pending

Fiscal Recovery Fund recipients may provide aid to industries, including tourism, that were disproportionately and negatively impacted by COVID-19. Such aid may include implementation of COVID mitigation and prevention measures that enable safe resumption of activities as well as aid to support attractions affected by required closures. The Memorial Opera House project was part of a pre-pandemic county feasibility study that included exterior building enhancements, new ADA-compliant restrooms, and a new enlarged entrance and lobby area. For more details and a discussion of how Porter County's plan complies with the IFR, see our Compliance Analysis--Premium Pay (in progress). 

Storm Water Projects

Expenditure Category:
Infrastructure
Commissioners' Plan Amount:
Up to $4,000,000
County Council Appropriation:
TBD
Date of Appropriation:
TBD
Amount Expended, to Date:
N/A
Status: 
Pending


Premium Pay

Expenditure Category:Premium Pay
Commissioners' Plan Amount:Up to $1,200,000
County Council Appropriation:TBD
Appropriation Date:TBD
Amount Expended, to Date:N/A
Status:Pending


Per U.S. Treasury's Interim Final Rule, Fiscal Recovery Fund recipients such as Porter County government may use their payments to provide  premium pay of up to $13 per hour for eligible workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The IFR states that these workers are those who are "relied on to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors." In county government, the premium pay will be awarded to full-time employees who worked in calendar year 2021 in the public health and safety sector, one of the essential sectors specifically identified in the IFR. The County Commissioners and County Council have agreed that the premium pay will be up to $4,000 per eligible employee. For more details and a discussion of how Porter County's plan complies with the IFR, see our Compliance Analysis--Premium Pay (in progress).