Kitsap County has $53 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Here’s how they will get spent – Kitsap Sun

Kitsap County has committed roughly 90% of theCOVID-19 relief funding itreceived as part of the American Rescue PlanAct (ARPA) of 2021.

To date, Kitsap County has directed the spending of $47.6 millionout of $52.7 million it received from the federal government. The money will goto a varietyofprojects that relate to public health,homelessness, childcare, small business assistance, hospitality and tourism, and infrastructure like broadband expansion.

The spending is focusedon assisting communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, those who are homeless or at risk of it, those who are low-income, andsmall businesses,said Eric Baker, Kitsap County deputy county administrator.

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An August report that details spending shows the amount of money invested in each category:$23.3millionforpublic health;$10 million for "lost revenue recovery";$9.9 million to address "negative economic impacts"; $8.9 million for infrastructure; and $650,000 for administration.

"Our money is largely being focused on going out into the public or addressing internal issues in the county that are affecting the public," Baker said.

Some projects that helphomelessnessinclude $3.4 million for the renovation ofthe former Olympic Fitness Club into a homeless shelter of over 75 bedson Mile Hill Drive and $272,000 for the Housing Solutions Center to create additional homelessness intervention teams.Another$250,000 will go to theDispute Resolution Center of Kitsap Countyto help rentersaddress potential eviction issueswithout involving the court system.

Some of themost expensive projects on the list: $7.2millionto improve the ventilation system for the Kitsap CountyJail and$6.6 million for Kitsap Public Utilities District'sbroadband node expansion project. In that project,up to 30 broadband nodes willbe built inunderserved areas to givepeoplegreater access to in-home reliable high-speed internet.

KPUD also secureda $470,512 budgetfor itsfree Wi-Fiexpansion project, in which24 Wi-Fihotspots will be constructed at Kitsap Transitparkand ride lots and other public facilities, according to county documents.

As for tourism and hospitality businesses,$60,000 has been dedicated toVisit Kitsap Peninsula for a project tocollaborate with the Port of Seattle andVisit Seattleand Olympic Peninsula to bring journalists and writers to the county to promote tourism, county documents said.

Kitsap Public Health Districtis slated to get $748,000 foritsnurse family partnership, which is anexpansion of in-home health assistance to expectant mothers and new families to improve birth outcomes, child development, kindergarten readiness and parenting practices.

YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap County's childcare programs are slated to get $519,000 forsubsidiesfor daytime and before- or after-school childcare for low-income families; $243,000will go to the organization'syouth andsenior programs.

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The county is working with stakeholdersto hammer out some contract-based projects andis making a goodprocessof spendingthe money, Baker said.

"We do have a number of contracts that have gone out. And then we have a number of projects that are internal, that are not necessarily contract-based, but we're making good progress towardspending the money," Baker said.

The spendingdeadline for the ARPA fund isthe end of2024.The countyis usingthe money in a way that ensures recovery needs beyond those identified in 2021can be covered, according to Baker.

"If we issued all our money last year,a lot of the stuff we know we need today, we wouldn't have money for it," Baker said. "The board is kind of moving methodicallywith this money, making sure that we're getting as much out there as we can, yet also ensuring that we have a certain amount to handle emergent issues that we didn't think of previously."

The countyplanstocommittherest of the $5 millionin 2023, Baker said.

This story has been changed since it was first published to correct the agency that runs the nurse family partnership.

Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.comor on Twitter@peiyulintw.

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Kitsap County has $53 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Here's how they will get spent - Kitsap Sun