The El Dorado City Council has agreed on one thing regarding $1.82 million the city has received as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.
A portion of the money should be used for bonuses to be awarded to city employees who have been on the front lines during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, city officials have said.
However, how the bonuses are going to be structured will require additional discussion, council members said during a Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday.
In May, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, as established by ARPA, to provide $350 billion in emergency funding for eligible state, local, territorial and Tribal governments.
Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer applied for ARPA funding in June on behalf of the city and the funds were disbursed in July.
The mayor sent an email to city council members on Aug. 31, asking for their consideration on how to expend the funds.
She pointed out that the Union County Quorum Court had dedicated a portion of $3.5 million in ARPA funds that were awarded to the county the county to employee bonuses in the form of hazard-duty pay.
The county bonuses will be allotted for each day employees worked regular hours between March 11, 2020, and April 8, 2021 -- the period during which a State of Emergency had been declared in Arkansas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith-Creer also shared a fact sheet from the U.S. Department of the Treasury detailing how the COVID relief funds may be spent.
According to the fact sheet, the funds may be used to:
• Support public health expenditures.
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency.
• Replace lost public sector revenue.
• Provide premium pay for essential workers.
• Invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
Council members agreed Sept. 9 to discuss the issue during the next Finance Committee meeting, which was held Tuesday.
Council Member and Finance Committee Chairman Vance Williamson previously said he had spoken with city department heads about the matter and he wanted the council sit down with the department heads to discuss the matter in more detail.
Williamson said Tuesday that the matter is going to be handled differently among the various city departments, including administration, police, fire, public works and South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.
In previous discussions with Police Chief Kenny Hickman and Fire Chief Chad Mosby, Williamson said he learned that both chiefs had agreed to base the amounts of bonuses on an hourly rate for hours employees worked between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 in 2020.
"Because a lot of the people that were kind of the low men on the totem poles in police and fire -- they had some of the most hours and put in some of the most work during all that time and were on the front lines, literally," Williamson said.
"Where, if we did something based on tenure, like we do with Christmas bonuses, generally, we feel like we wouldn't be putting that bonus toward people that really deserve it," he continued.
Both Hickman and Mosby said they used the Quorum Court's breakdown as a baseline to come up with a calculation of $1.25 an hour, which only includes hours in which employees were "actually at work."
Williamson and the chiefs noted that bonus pay will not be awarded for hours in which employees worked from home, nor for time taken off for vacation or illness, including COVID.
Additionally, Mosby emphasized that in order to receive bonus pay, employees who worked with the city in 2020 must still be employed by the city.
Hickman said the total for ARPA bonuses for the police department comes to just over $127,000 for 66 employees and Mosby said the total for the fire department comes to $155,000 for 52 employees.
The El Dorado Police Department has more civilian employees than the fire department, which only has one civilian employee.
With uniformed personnel, the departments maintain parity with 51 slots each for firefighters and police officers.
Council Member Andre Rucks inquired about a median number for the bonuses and Hickman and Mosby said the median varies among city employees and departments.
"We had some people that worked a lot of hours and picked up overtime and a lot who were on extended sick leave," Mosby said.
Added Hickman, "We had several workers take sick leave off and my secretary worked from home some."
Williamson noted that City Hall shut down a few times due to COVID-related issues last year.
Smith-Creer explained that City Hall only closed one full day earlier this year.
"Nobody worked from home. People were still coming in. We had to shut down and (sanitize) and there was only one day that we closed for the entire day," the mayor said.
"If someone came in and we found out they had been exposed (to OVID-19), we sent everyone home and sanitized the building," she added.
Council Member Billy Blann asked how many employees make up the the Department of Public Works and Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said 120, including the El Dorado Water Utilities, which falls under the DPW umbrella.
Williamson said there are five employees at South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field. Airport manager Johnathan Estes explained that only two airport employees are eligible for the ARPA bonus.
"I've got a whole new crew," he said, adding that he and a city employee who transferred from the DPW could receive the bonus.
Edmonds said Debbie Stinson, DPW administrative assistant, has tracked hours that were worked last year by street and sanitation crews.
He said will need more time to compile numbers for his department.
"We'll go with whatever metric Mr. Edmonds comes up with," said Estes.
Williamson stressed that ARPA bonuses will not be distributed in lieu of holiday bonuses.
"If everything continues like it is, (Christmas bonuses) will be forthcoming. I want to get (ARPA) bonuses in the hands of employees as quickly as possible," Williamson said.
Mosby said the EPD and EFD are working to ensure that ARPA bonuses are not directed toward payments into employee retirement plans.
"Lump sums are not subject to retirement costs," Mosby said.
"I just want to do it correctly. We're going to be doing this for two years because El Dorado will receive $1.6, $1.7 million (in ARPA funds) next year," Williamson said. "I think our priority ought to be taking care of city employees."
"We ought to pay the maximum, whatever we pay. We've had employees covering for other employees. They were out there while other folks were locked in the house," Council Member Willie McGhee said.
"Yes. Take care of the people who take care of us," added Council Member Paul Choate.
Williamson also suggested that the remainder of the ARPA funds be used for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.
He noted that the El Dorado Water Utilities and city council previously voted on "stair-step" annual rate increases to keep up with needed repairs on the water and wastewater system.
"We can put that balance into these projects so that we won't have to continue to raise water rates in the future," Williamson said. "And it gives us money for some of these projects."
He said he had spoken with Edmonds about the matter.