BROWNSTOWN — The county’s American Rescue Plan committee provided a brief update during a recent Jackson County Council meeting about the process of determining where and how to spend the $8.58 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding.

That committee consists of councilmen Brian Thompson, Dave Hall and Brett Turner and county Commissioner Drew Markel.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury released a 437-page final rule last month that details how ARP funding can be spent. A 44-page overview of that final rule also was released from the department.

Hall said during the Feb. 16 meeting at the courthouse annex that a representative with Reedy Financial Group had met with the committee to help the county determine potential uses for the funding.

The committee plans on signing an agreement with the group for them to assist in the process of finding out where to appropriate the funds, Hall said.

There are a lot more uses for what the funding could be used toward than what Hall said he had initially expected.

For uses up to $10 million, he said there is a lot of flexibility.

“We’re not going to have any trouble finding good uses for (the ARP funds) now,” Hall said.

Some of the uses that were originally restricted but can now be used, Hall said, included road maintenance and road building.

By the end of 2024, the county must commit how and where the $8.58 million in ARP funding will be spent. The county has until 2026 to spend the funds.

The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 by President Joe Biden. Through that plan, $13.81 million was distributed to the county and its four municipalities, Brownstown, Seymour, Crothersville and Medora, to be used for COVID-19 relief.